


Until You're Gone

by prismvtic



Series: it's just a fayz (5h gone au) [1]
Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Non-Graphic Violence, basically Camila and Lauren would die for each other, but they're more important to the later plot, there are a few more important characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-01-22 12:36:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 63,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12481712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prismvtic/pseuds/prismvtic
Summary: Kids went to school that day as normal. They left in confusion and panic. And the days to follow spiraled into events that no one expected to ever occur. Kids developed powers, kids got a hold of guns, kids were killing each other. And like every war there are two sides, the rich kids of Coates Academy for troubled youth and the teenage beach bums of Perdido Beach. Lines are crossed for Lauren Jauregui and Camila Cabello. Camila never found green eyes to be more enticing, Lauren never thought letting someone in so easily would have its benefits. But with the mysterious disappearance of all the adults in Perdido Beach, anything is possible.AU (based on Michael Grant's Gone series)





	1. THE POOF

Coates Academy - 299 Hours, 54 Minutes

“So class, can you tell me about the significance of the Boston Tea Party?” Mr. Purvis asked the class, looking as bored as everyone else in the room. Who wouldn’t be though? Teaching American History to a bunch of rebellious teenagers had to be the worst job ever, especially since none of them seemed to care about the class anyways.

Lauren Jauregui wasn’t even paying attention and she loved history. Instead she stuck to sketching out two girls kissing on the margins of her history notebook. Soon she’d be in art class and drowning out Mr. Purvis’s boring lectures would be the least of her worries.

“Yeah, white dudes got triggered ‘cause they were paying too much for tea,” Zayn Malik shouted from the back of the room. The whole class erupted into giggles, causing Lauren to look up from her notebook. Her gaze moved to her best friend, Normani Kordei, who was twirling her hair absent-mindedly between her fingers. Green eyes met brown and the both of them broke out into a grin.

“No, you’re wrong,” Justin Bieber deadpanned, looking over at his friend Zayn.  “Those guys were Native Americans. They had the costumes and everything!”

Ariana Grande, who was sitting at the front, turned around in her chair which caused her to accidentally flip her ponytail and hit the girl next to her in the face. “Justin Drew Bieber, I cannot believe the shit that just flew out of your mouth. They were white dudes and they were dressed up as Native Americans to put the blame on them!”

Justin’s jaw dropped and he slumped back in his chair in defeat. A few other of their friends laughed at him before they were finally quieted by Mr. Purvis clearing his throat expectantly.

“Thank you Miss Grande, I expect no further interruptions, am I correct?”

A few murmurs echoed through the classroom and Lauren took that as her cue to get right back into drawing. The teacher droned on in his lecture and no one seemed to care anymore, except for Ariana and Perrie Edwards who were listening attentively. For a correctional school, those two seemed to be the only people that actually cared about their education.

And then? Silence.

Lauren’s eyes snapped up to the front board. Where was Mr. Purvis? Her eyes frantically searched the room for any sign of their crazy old teacher. Nothing. It was almost as if the male had suddenly vanished.

“Yo, where did Mr. P go?” Normani asked, breaking the silence. The whole class turned their attention to her.

“Beats me,” said Louis Tomlinson, another one of Justin and Zayn’s friends.

“Maybe he spontaneously combusted,” mused Troye Sivan, who usually didn’t speak to anyone.

“Are you an idiot?” Ashley Frangipane asked. “He was here two seconds ago and we would have heard an explosion!”

“Blue hair is right,” Ariana agreed as she stood up out of her chair. Lauren’s facial expression turned to a quizzical one as she watched the short girl. “Maybe we shouldn’t focus on him not being here and take it as our cue to get the hell out of here.”

A chorus of people agreeing with the girl filled the room. Justin, Zayn, and Louis were already packing up their stuff. Lauren shrugged her shoulders and did the same. She normally didn’t skip class, but if Ariana insisted on it then she might as well take advantage of a role model in the Academy giving her free reign.

Lauren turned to Normani. “So, now that we’re freed from American History, what shall we do on this fine afternoon?” she asked in a fake British accident.

Normani rolled her eyes. “I don’t feel like going outside at all. Let’s just go back to our dorm?”

“Count me in too,” Ashley said from behind Normani, wriggling her brows suggestively. Normani turned to look at her incredulously before looking back at Lauren. Lauren sent her best friend a nod of approval with a small but genuine smile.

Her best friend shrugged her shoulders at Ashley. “Sure, the more the merrier. As long as you don’t vomit on the floor again.”

Ashley huffed, “it’s not my fault that Lucy told me it’d be a good idea to drink a whole bottle of vodka!”

“You just can’t admit that you can’t hold your liquor,” Lauren teased with a smirk, remembering that night all too well. Lucy and her laughed so hard that their insides hurt like crazy.

The three of them left the classroom chatting aimlessly about what crazy things that they had gotten into that drunken night in Normani’s dorm. If someone told Lauren that people like Normani, Ashley, and Lucy would end up being her closest friends two years ago, she’d say that they were crazy. Three years ago Lauren told everyone that she was straight and never touched a drop of alcohol or smoked weed. A year later, she was making out with girls at parties and getting drunk every chance she could. Her parents were so disgusted with her behavior that they sent her to this rich kids correctional academy, if anything it had done nothing to correct her behavior as she ended up being friends with the gayest girls in school. Speaking of Lucy, Lauren wondered if she could sneak her out of class to join their party.

To the trio’s surprise, they found Lucy standing outside the Chemistry classroom with a rather confused expression. Her face immediately lit up when she saw the three of them and waved excitedly. Lauren waved back, finding herself grinning at how adorable her close friend was.

“Cutting class? Naughty, naughty, Vives,” Lauren drawled.

Lucy laughed softly. “Not really, the teacher just vanished. Literally!”

Normani’s eyebrow rose. “You mean to tell me your teacher went missing too?”

Ashley suddenly gasped. “Oh my god! What if our teachers were having an affair?”

Lauren and Normani both looked at Ashley, dumbfounded, while Lucy just shook her head.

“Bitch, you can’t be serious,” Normani groaned. “Pulling some Houdini shit just so they can make out in a janitor’s closet.”

“Normani!” Lucy gasped.

Lauren giggled, wrapping her arms around her best friend and resting her head on Normani’s shoulder. “I think Mani’s just hungry, we all know how she gets when Mani gets hungry. She gets weird.”

“Nah girl, I think we all know the only person who gets weird when they’re hungry is you,” Normani pointed out. Lauren whined and pulled away from her in annoyance.

The four of them made their way through the classroom building to cross over to the dorm building. But peculiarly as they kept walking, more students seemed to be out of class than normal. Kids were pouring into the hallways, running, or laughing loudly. Maybe the teachers were giving them a break as well. Lauren sent a side eyed glance towards Normani, who seemed very perplexed. This was one of the weirder days at Coates Academy, Lauren concluded.

They finally reached Normani’s dorm with little to no strange occurrences except for more kids spilling out of their classroom with no teachers in sight. Heck, even the crazy old janitor that hung around the girl’s dormitory was nowhere to be found. Normani unlocked their door and the four of them squished in. Lucy plopped down on Lauren’s bed, pulling Ashley to sit down next to her while Normani and Lauren sat on Normani’s bed which was opposite of them.

“Pretty messed up day so far, huh?” Ashley joked, breaking the silence.

Lucy snorted. “More than the pep rally that our school tried to do last year.”

“Those poor cheerleaders, they didn’t deserve to be catcalled and have the sprinklers dump water on them.”

Lauren remembered that and Normani happened to be one of those cheerleaders. She was the one who followed after Normani, who cried for a solid hour afterwards. Lauren managed to convince her that it was a stupid prank and that they would get their revenge. Still, the raven haired girl will never forgive the goonies who were behind the whole thing.

“No, we really didn’t,” Normani chimed in. “Let’s just admit it...Coates Academy fucking sucks. I’m glad I’m going to be pulled out at the end of this semester.”

Lauren’s eyes widened. “Wait, what!?”

A look of guilt flashed on Normani’s features and she bit her lip. “I’m sorry, I was going to tell you but I didn’t know it was for real until yesterday.” Lauren sighed, looking down at her feet. Maybe it was for the best anyways, Normani was really a good person, she didn’t belong in a place like Coates Academy. Lauren was jaded and a total mess up, while Normani only came here because of a mistake.

“A real shame Kordei, you’ll make me take care of Laur all by myself,” Ashley reprimanded.

“Hey, I’m here too!” Lucy whined.

Lauren rolled her eyes. “Girl, you’re the one who joins in on my fun.” Ashley burst out laughing, causing Lauren to glare at her. “You do too, Frangipane.” That caused her friend to shut up for a split second, before all four of them burst out laughing. And for a moment, Lauren forgot about Normani leaving Coates.

“I’mma get a glass of water, I’ll be right back.”

Normani got up and made her way to their bathroom, opening and shutting the door behind her. Lauren leaned against the wall, letting out a soft sigh.

“Did I ever tell you about the girl I hooked up with in Perdido Beach?” Ashley asked, playing with her hair. Lauren and Lucy’s eyebrows rose.

“Since when did you have a chance to go to Perdildo Beach?” Lauren asked with a scowl.

“She said _Perdildo_.” Lucy snorted, covering her mouth.

Lauren rolled her eyes. “Shut up Luce, let Ashley tell her story.”

“Anyways, I snuck into a party hosted by Liam Payne. Apparently his cousin goes here so it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I walk in and this party is full of kumbaya shit. There’s no alcohol and I was harassed by an actual child that wouldn’t shut up about Jesus.”

Lauren tried picturing a child harassing Ashley at a party, and ended up picturing a girl dressed up in a Jesus costume and praising the Lord excitedly. She giggled out loud. “Wow Ash, did she try to turn you straight?”

“Nah, I turned the girl I hooked up with gay.” Ashley smirked.

“I was talking about the Jesus freak, but I still wanna know who you hooked up with.”

Ashley pursed her lips, running a hand through her blue hair in thought before shaking her head. “Sorry Laur, a lady doesn’t fuck and tell.”

“If you’re a lady then Keana and I are going to get married,” Lucy scoffed.

Lauren scowled at the mention of Lucy’s ex. It wasn’t that she was jealous. She wasn’t at all. She just didn’t think Keana was good for Lucy, she always hung out with the wrong crowd and had a don’t-care attitude that was worse than Louis Tomlinson. And she knew that Keana and Lucy were still seeing each other in secret.

“Mani’s taking forever to get water, don’t you think?” Lauren mumbled. “I’m gonna go check on her.” She stood up and made her way to the bathroom, not even bothering to knock. Normani never knocked anyways so why should she bother.

“Hey Mani, are you doing okay--holy shit!”

Normani looked at her like she had just seen a ghost. Lauren’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped, closing the door behind them. Her heartbeat quickened at the sight and Lauren felt slightly panicked. “Mani?”

“It’s not what it looks like,” Normani blurted out, hands shaking violently.

“Then what happened?” Lauren took a step closer to her, Normani jumped back and whimpered.

“Lauren, don’t come near me, please.”

Lauren shook her head, pointing to the sink. The glass used for water was completely frozen and the water that was previously coming out of the faucet was frozen solid like a column of ice. “Did you…?”

“Please, you can’t tell Louis or Perrie, they’ll do tests on me like an animal.”

“Mani…” Lauren tried again, taking another step closer to her friend.

She cautiously moved to grab Normani’s hand, biting down on her lip. Once their skin made contact, Normani flinched and yelled, “don’t fucking touch me!” Lauren gasped suddenly and moved back. She suddenly realized she had no feeling in her right hand whatsoever. Her eyes widened as she noticed that her hand was frozen solid. If she moved one finger, she was sure half of it would snap off. “Laur, oh my God, I’m so sorry.”

Lauren’s breathing intensified, as she stared at her hand. “Is there any way to fix this?” she asked as calmly as possible.

Normani ran a hand through her dark tresses and shrugged her shoulders. “No, I’ve been trying to fix this for the past five minutes. Lauren, I froze your hand, I’m such a monster.”

Lauren felt a jolt of electricity fill her and she rose her gaze back to Normani. Warmth filled her everywhere but her hand, but she was suddenly filled with a sudden confidence. “Normani, look at me,” she commanded. Normani’s eyes shot up and met hers. There were tears already forming in her soft brown eyes, but Lauren couldn’t look away. “It’s not your fault, stop it,” she said forcefully. And with those words, Normani’s expression softened, her shoulders relaxed, and she took a deep breath.

“It’s not my fault,” Normani repeated as if she was in a trance. Lauren smiled in satisfaction as she looked down at her hand once more.

“The fuck just happened? It’s like all my nerves just calmed with your hypnotizing green stare,” Normani mumbled, her tone was mellow. She seemed to have no desire to go back to panicking. “Now about your hand--”

“Yo, what’s going on? Is Laurmani having sex without me?” Ashley asked, suddenly bursting into the bathroom. Both girls jumped up and Lauren didn’t have any time to hide her hand. Ashley’s jovial expression disappeared as she looked around the small bathroom. Her gaze moved from the glass, to the sink, and finally Lauren’s hand. “Oh, um, which one of you guys got abilities? Powers? I don’t know what to call them.”

“Me,” Normani admitted sheepishly.

“Does Louis or Perrie know?” Ashley asked.

Normani shook her head, biting down on her lower lip. “No, they don’t.” She took a deep breath and sent Ashley a pleading look. “Please, you can’t tell them.”

Ashley laughed quietly. “By doing that I would be exposing myself.” She took a step towards Lauren, sending her a small smile. She tilted her head to the side. “Lauren, can I see your hand?”

Lauren furrowed her brows. Ashley’s brown eyes bore into her own as if she was telling her to trust her. After a few moments, she nodded and showed her her frozen hand. Ashley clasped her hands around the hand, a warm light emitting from her fingertips. Lauren’s eyes widened in shock as Ashley removed her hands. Her hand was no longer a frozen icicle but instead completely normal -- if not better. The scars on her knuckles from the time she punched her old high school wall during freshman year were gone. Lauren gasped in surprise which caused Ashley to grin. “Holy shit. Tell me everything, both of you, from the very beginning.”

* * *

 

Perdido Beach - 299 Hours 54 Minutes

Another wad of paper hit Camila Cabello on the back of her head. The girl winced and turned around in her chair. “Can you please stop?” she asked in the calmest tone possible. In reality, Camila was very angered.

“I actually find this very entertaining, so I don’t think so,” Austin Mahone, the dumbest boy in the entire grade, said with a smirk as he leaned back into his desk chair. Camila rolled her eyes and turned back to the book she was reading. Not even thirty seconds later, she felt another wad of paper hit the back of her head. Camila’s jaw clenched and she whipped her head around.

“What do you want from me?” Camila groaned.

Austin grinned. “That’s easy Camilla, I want to take you on a date this Friday.”

“Yeah that ain’t happening, Dorito,” Dinah Jane Hansen grumbled next to her, who was previously engrossed in her phone, but now was paying very close attention to what was unfolding between them.

“I’m not a Dorito, Hansen,” Austin hissed.

Shawn Mendes, who was sitting in front of Camila, turned around and laughed loudly. “Really Mahone? There’s a reason why we made a Most Likely To Become A Mascot For A Chip Brand superlative. It was the only thing you could win easily.”

Austin stood up out of his chair and slammed his fist on his desk. “Why you little--”

“Is there a problem here, Austin?” Ms. Lee asked, giving the boy a death glare. He shook his head meekly and sat back down.

Camila let out a sigh of relief and smiled at Shawn with ease. “Thanks Shawn, I wish he knew what no meant.”

“Of course,” Shawn said cheerfully. “Anything for you, Mila.”

“Oh no,” Dinah cut in with a scowl. “Oh _hell_ no.”

Camila and Shawn both looked at Dinah with immense confusion. “What?” they asked at the same time.

“Mendes, please don’t tell me you’re going to ask Camila out on a date now too because then I’ll take back my decision to prevent Camila from walking around with a rainbow painted on her forehead.”

Camila giggled quietly while Shawn just shook his head in disbelief. “Dinah, Shawn is gay too.”

Dinah’s jaw dropped and she let out an annoyed sigh. “Well thank the Lord,” she said, looking back down at her phone. Camila and Shawn both returned to their work except Camila wasn’t really reading the book anymore. She just kept underlining striking lines and keeping it at that. She couldn’t help but wonder what had gotten Dinah so distracted. Ever since that party with Liam Payne that happened a few weeks ago, Dinah had been glued to her phone.

“DJ, who are you texting?” Camila asked, leaning over to look at her friend’s phone. “Is it a boy?”

Dinah quickly hid her phone and shoved Camila playfully. “It’s a girl, and I’m waiting for a text back.”

Camila smirked. “How long has it been since her last text?”

“Three days.”

“Oh shit.”

“Yeah…” Dinah shook her head. “Do you think it’s because I’m ugly?”

Camila chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief at her best friend. “Cheechee, I have never used I’m and ugly in the same sentence before. Who are you and what have you done to my best friend?”

Dinah rolled her eyes, sticking her tongue out at her. “I’ve always been the same flawless self - what the fuck?” Camila’s eyebrows rose as Dinah looked at her phone with complete shock. “I have no bars whatsoever.”

Camila let out an exasperated sigh.

Dinah bit down on her lip. “No, Mila, I usually have five bars in this classroom and now there’s absolutely nothing.”

“Hey, where did Mrs. Lee go? I don’t think I heard her exit the classroom,” Harry Styles piped up from the other side of the room. Camila’s gaze snapped to the front of the room. Sure enough, Mrs. Lee was missing.

“I don’t have any bars either, does that have anything to do with the teacher missing?” Dinah asked in a slightly panicked voice.

Jade Thirlwall quickly shook her head. “Same here Dinah, but I don’t think the sudden loss of a signal would make our teacher disappear.” Jade glanced down at her phone once more. “It’s a strange coincidence.”

Camila slumped back into her chair, watching as the class continued to argue over what happened. She tried to zone the noises out but it was impossible, she could hear hundreds of conversations at once both directed towards each other or as if they were talking to themselves. It confused and frustrated her and she took a deep breath to try and calm the crippling anxiety that overwhelmed her.

“Chancho,” Dinah called her nickname out. Camila looked up expectantly. “Let’s get out of here, if Mrs. Lee comes back, it’s her fault for leaving class in the first place.”

Camila nodded and gathered her things, following her best friend towards the door. The two of them went out into the hallway and immediately noticed that the halls were silent, which was a good sign. Maybe they were all just too engrossed in their projects to notice that their teacher had left. It was bewildering. The pair noticed a girl exit a classroom nearby. She had a slightly panicked expression on her features almost as if she saw a ghost. Her face lit up in recognition as she saw the two friends and she ran over to the two of them, wrapping her arms around them in a hug. Ally Brooke could easily be scared, but Camila had never seen her so shaken up.

“Smallz? What are you doing out of class?” Dinah asked her as she hugged her back.

She didn’t respond only shook in their arms.

“Ally? Is everything okay?”

There were a few moments of silence before Ally finally spoke up. “They’re gone.” She pulled away from the hug and wiped the tears beginning to form in her eyes. “One minute we were learning about polynomials and then the teacher just disappeared. So did everyone in my math class. I swear I’m not crazy, I was paying attention in class!”

Camila pursed her lips and turned to look at Dinah. However, Dinah was looking right at Ally with fear. “There are no students in your class besides you now?” Dinah asked for confirmation.

“Yeah, I don’t get it. They’re all older than me though, it was a small math class. Two of them were held back last year and the other two turned eighteen within the past two months. I’m the only seventeen year old.”

And in that moment Camila put two and two together. Mrs. Lee and Ally’s teacher and classmates suddenly disappeared. All of them were eighteen or over, if they were missing that meant that something must have happened to their parents too. “Our parents,” Camila blurted out.

“Huh?” Dinah asked while Ally bit her lip.

“I have this theory, we gotta see if our parents are home. Then I’ll know the truth.”

Ally shook her head. “But my parents are out of town, that won’t prove anything.”

Dinah hummed in thought. “My mom isn’t home for sure. She’s at the daycare with my siblings. What about you, Mila?”

Camila hesitated, trying to remember where her parents were today. “My dad’s at the power plant and my mom works at Clifftop but today’s her day off.”

“To Mila’s house!” Dinah shouted triumphantly as she linked arms with Camila and Ally and stalked off.

When the trio left the school building, Camila was shocked to find that there were tons of abandoned cars on the road, some of them still running. Some had even crashed into local buildings. Something weird was definitely going on. In the distance, Camila noticed smoke and heard the sound of children screaming. The Town Plaza was in trouble. She looked at her two friends expectantly. “Guys, we gotta go see what’s going on down there, it doesn’t sound good.”

“I bet some kid tried to make pizza and ended up setting the house on fire,” Dinah joked.

“That’s not funny Dinah,” Ally reprimanded her.

Camila bit her lip as she started making her way towards the town square. To her surprise, a three story apartment building was engulfed in flames. Children were standing around the building, helpless and unsure what to do. To make matters worse, the fire was inching close to the daycare. She heard Dinah gasp next to her and let out incomprehensible sounds of worry. The next thing she knew, Dinah was barreling towards the apartment building.

“Regina, Regina! Mom!?” Dinah called frantically.

Camila and Ally had no choice but to follow her. The frantic cries from Dinah scared Camila. This was supposed to be a normal day. She’d go to school and get through the boring day and then spend the afternoon and evening surfing with Shawn or getting ice cream with Dinah. But instead she was caught in this mess, her whole life was crashing down in front of her.

“Do we have a fire truck? Anything?” Dinah asked the kids near her. They shook their head with a expression that matched a fish’s. She took a deep breath and looked back over at Ally and her. “Mila, Ally, please don’t think anything different of me after I do this.” Camila’s brows furrowed as she watched Dinah take a baseball bat from a nearby kid and make her way to a fire hydrant. She started whacking it harshly and Camila believed she was reenacting Lemonade on the spot. Water finally broke free in a little spout, not at all like it did in the visual film. Camila was convinced that Dinah was crazy.

But then something extraordinary happened, Dinah held her hand out and the water shot up, spraying the bystanders who were standing close by. Dinah calmly moved her hand so the water was blasting onto the burning building. Slowly but surely the flames were dying because of Dinah’s way with water. Minutes past and the flames were gone, the only remnants of the fire was the half destroyed building and the rising smoke.

Dinah lowered her hand and fell down onto her knees.

“Dinah!” Camila shouted and came barreling towards her best friend’s side. She wrapped her arms around her. “You saved the day, DJ, you’re a real hero,” she mumbled into her best friend’s ear.

Dinah could only weakly hug back. “You think so, Walz?”

Camila nodded eagerly. “I know so. I don’t know what you just did back there, but it was so cool.” Camila noticed Dinah tensing up and she quickly squeezed her friend. “We can call you Water Girl or something.”

The two of them hugged each other in silence. A few moments later, Ally came in and joined the hug. Camila knew that this was a turning point for all three of them. Whatever the hell just happened would impact them greatly in the future and she can only hope that she can stay by her two friends’ side until the end.

“Dinah! Dinah!” A little girl called. Camila broke away from the embrace to allow her best friend to greet her sister.

Dinah smiled widely as she wrapped her arms around her. “Hey pretty girl,” she mumbled.

Regina’s brows furrowed. “Dinah, where’s mommy?”

Camila’s eyes widened as she looked from Regina to Dinah. No way, this could be happening.

“What do you mean? I thought she was in the daycare with you.”

“No.” Regina said softly. “Mommy went poof with the other mommies.”

Camila’s face darkened. For once in her lifetime, Camila had been correct about something. She just wished it wasn’t in this circumstance where Camila was right. Her lip quivered. “So, it’s true. All of the people over eighteen have disappeared.”

Ally gasped in horror. “But if all the adults are gone that means--”

“We’re on our own,” Dinah interrupted her.

“And Sofi is out there by herself right now,” Camila finished with a shaky breath. “I have to find her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the only chapter where events happened simultaneously. After this one, the countdown will go down as each point of view changes. And don't worry, you'll find out what the countdown is for at the end. If you've read Michael Grant's books you might know, but it's not what you think it is. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I'll post the next one at latest this Friday. Camren will finally meet up next chapter.


	2. CONTROL

Coates Academy - 291 Hours, 07 Minutes

It only took four hours until someone tried to take control of Coates Academy. To no one’s surprise, that person ended up being Louis Tomlinson with Perrie Edwards and Zayn Malik at his side. About four hours ago, Louis made an announcement over the intercom that they would be having a school council meeting and that every student was supposed to attend because there would be important announcements made. Ashley told Lauren that was code for testing kids for powers and scaring them.

Normani had also made a compelling offer -- that the three of them pack up their stuff and go to Perdido Beach for many reasons. The first was that obviously it wouldn’t be safe for Normani or Ashley under Louis’s rule. The second was that soon Coates Academy would run out of food and if the trio left early and made friends with the town people they would definitely have food. The third was that Normani hoped that she could reunite Ashley and her hookup for some major embarrassment. She had even suggested to bring Lucy along with them but Ashley told Normani that she was afraid Lucy’s big mouth would tell Keana and Keana was rather close with Louis and Perrie.

Lauren was counting down the minutes until they were forced to go into the cafeteria and watch as Louis crowned himself king of Coates Academy. Her bags were packed and placed neatly on her messy bed. 

“You know we’re leaving right after the assembly right? Before Louis can do some crazy security thing,” Normani said from the bathroom.

“Mhm,” Lauren hummed. “I just hope I still remember how to drive. I haven’t in about two years.”

“Absolutely no pressure whatsoever.” Normani emerged from the bathroom with a smirk. “But if you crash the van, I will not hesitate to freeze your ass.”

Lauren scowled at her best friend and put her blazer on. As always, she brushed her hair forwards so her dark tresses would be covering the Coates Academy crest. It was her way of protesting the school and its wicked ways. She stood up and smoothed out the wrinkles in her white button up shirt.

“Have I ever told you that your ass looks good in that skirt?”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “Shut the fuck up, Normani.”

“What?”

“Now’s not the time to be a useless lesbian.”

Normani showed a devilish grin. “It’s always time to be a useless lesbian.”

They left the room and made their way down the corridors to the main building. As they walked, more girls filed out from their rooms with apprehensive looks. Lauren couldn’t blame them. Louis was really scary when he was on a power hungry rant and he happened to be able to move things with his mind. He could easily pick someone up and throw them across the room, killing them instantly.

The main building was crowded. Students ages eleven to seventeen were packed together as they all tried to push their way into the cafeteria. The whole process felt like it took forever, it might have actually been at least a half hour until everyone finally got inside. The younger students mumbled and complained about being tired.

“I’m assuming all 120 of you are here. I’m sorry for the wait,” Louis spoke up, silencing everyone. All of the kids had taken seats, almost like it was a real town meeting. Lauren agreed that Louis was charming, but not so that he could control an entire school of rebels - it seemed unrealistic.

“As of now, I, Louis Tomlinson, am your leader. I will take the role of our former headmistress, but I will offer much more freedom and lenience to the student population.” Louis cleared his throat. “Do not worry, a small group of people met together and agreed that I would be the best fit for leader. It was unanimous.”

He gestured to a group of people, Zayn Malik and Perrie Edwards in front. Lauren figured the only reason it was unanimous was because Louis only asked his followers.

“The first problem that we must address is our food situation. We will not be able to feed 120 kids with the rations that we have now. It is only good enough for a week. So, we have proposed to meet our friends down in Perdido Beach and make nice with them.”

“But Louis, they don’t like us down there!” An eleven year old girl pointed out. Normani sighed heavily from beside her. Lauren briefly glanced at her to see the ‘done with your shit’ look on her face. Lauren was not a stranger to seeing that expression.

Louis smiled softly. “Josephine, isn’t it? Don’t worry, if my assumption is correct, the adults down there have disappeared too. We’re just giving a helping hands to the teenagers down there that are probably handling the situation very...poorly. Our expertise would be very wanted.”

A murmur of agreement erupted in the cafeteria.

“Now, the next thing, I think it’s best that we let you know of a phenomenon that we have been experiencing the past couple of months. Some of us happen to have special abilities, we happen to be able to have very supernatural abilities.”

Just then a chair lifted up into the air. Several people in the room screamed in horror as if they had never seen Louis done something like this. He definitely did, he just didn’t spend time flaunting his powers.

“I am one of them, but I promise to not hurt you. However, I don’t think it’s beneficial if anyone else who has powers gets to roam free. It’ll undermine my authority.”

Normani reached over and grabbed Lauren’s hand, Lauren could tell that her friend was tense. She leaned over and whispered into her ear, “Mani, you’re okay, they don’t know about you.” Normani just shook her head and let out a worried whimper. Lauren’s jaw clenched as she turned her head back in Louis’s direction, an overwhelming feeling of upset filled her. She hated Louis Tomlinson and everything he had ever done.

“I have a record of every person who has powers and they will be forced to remain here at Coates Academy for Perdido Beach’s safety,” Louis spoke. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. “So as I call your name, please come forward.” 

Clearing his throat, his gaze moved to the slip of paper in his hands, “Keana Issartel,” he called.

Lauren’s eyes widened. She had no idea Keana had powers. Then again, she didn’t know that Ashley and Normani had powers either, she must be very oblivious. But Keana went to Louis, when most people knew that this tyrannical monster would expose and exploit them. The brunette nervously stood up and made her way towards Louis. Lauren could only imagine how Lucy was feeling.

Louis sent her a sickly sweet smile. “Thank you, Keana. Perrie, could you read her again?” Perrie nodded from behind him and stepped forward, swiftly grabbing Keana’s wrist and running two fingers across her wrist.

“Two bars, close to a three,” Perrie spoke in a monotonous tone.

Louis nodded and turned to Keana. “That’s quite powerful isn’t it? It obviously isn’t a four bar like me, but it’s enough to make people fear you.”

Keana didn’t say anything. Louis shrugged his shoulders and turned to look at the corner of the room. A big pot of concrete mixer moved from that corner to in between Louis and Keana. Lauren saw the fear in Keana’s eyes and she didn’t blame her. The concrete mixer did not look like a good sign.

“Stick your hands in there,” Louis commanded.

Keana bit down on her lip. “I don’t want to.”

“Put your hands in there now,” he tried again with a harsher tone.

“Please don’t do this,” she pleaded.

Louis sighed softly, an emotionless expression plastered on his face. “Then you leave me no choice.” Keana suddenly screamed as her body was forced forward and her hands were forced into the mixture. She seemed to be struggling to take them out but Louis’s abilities had a firm grasp on her. “Zayn, pour the water in now.”

Zayn, who was literally Louis’s lap dop, stepped forward with his water bottle and dumped it into the pot. 

“Keep getting more water in there,” Louis hissed and Zayn ran off to get more water. Lauren couldn’t move, she was watching this horrible action and she couldn’t do anything about it.

“Stop it!” someone yelled and stood up out of their seat. Lauren turned to see who it was. To her horror, it was Lucy, standing up for her ex. Normally Lauren would be proud of her close friend, but she knew that what Lucy was doing was a terrible mistake. As far as Lauren knew Lucy was normal and Louis would tear her apart.

Louis turned his head to look at Lucy. “Lucy Vives, why am I not surprised?” He chuckled dryly. “I hoped this would go smoothly, but I guess I was proven to be terribly wrong.” 

Lucy was then lifted about three feet into the air and she clasped her throat in shock. Somehow Louis was able to choke her in thin air like he was Darth Vader with the force. Lauren couldn’t stand and watch this happened. She abruptly stood up and kicked down her chair to get everyone’s attention. All eyes were on her in that moment, including Louis, even though he didn’t drop Lucy at all. The familiar warmth she felt earlier when she spoke to Normani in the bathroom filled her once more. Her green eyes bore into Louis’s as she felt her veins fire up with an electrical shock of some sorts.

“Put Lucy down now,” Lauren commanded. Lucy dropped to the ground instantly. Louis looked at her in complete shock and before he could attempt to lift Lucy back up again. Lauren’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t even think about it, leave her alone. She did nothing wrong, you got that?”

“Holy shit! Jauregui has some kind of freaky powers too, she just stopped Louis! Someone grab her!” Zayn called as he pointed at Lauren.

Panic filled her. What happened? Lauren wasn’t a freak. She didn’t have powers. She was a normal girl that probably had great persuasion. Louis was still looking at her like he was waiting for a command and it confused her. In that moment, Lauren decided that she hated blue eyes more than anything.

She briefly looked away from him and exhaled shakily. Everything was happening in a blur and the next thing she knew there was a giant trash can flying towards her. Lauren was frozen in her spot, jaw dropping and eyes watering, she was convinced that Louis would end her miserable life at that very moment.

“Oh no you don’t,” Normani growled from next to her. She stood up and reached her hand out, freezing the trash can in the air and causing it to crash onto the ground and shatter into a million pieces due to its frozen nature. 

Lauren turned to her best friend with a look of relief and a small smile playing on her lips.

“Don’t mention it Jauregui, you owe me,” Normani mumbled. Lauren chuckled quietly and turned her attention back to what was happening in front of them. Zayn and Perrie were running towards them at full speed. Lauren grabbed Normani’s hand and pulled her towards the door. This was not the way Lauren wanted to make her exit from Coates, but whatever made it possible for them to leave.

They pushed past kids and tables, none of them were moving out of the way, they only watched as Zayn and Perrie chased the two people with powers. Zayn was unfortunately a fast runner and he was hot on their trail but Lauren kept moving. They were so close to the door, Zayn’s hand was reaching out dangerously close to her shoulder when Lauren looked back.

And then he was gone.

Lauren didn’t have time to process what happened because the next thing she saw was strong and buff Zayn Malik on the floor with tiny and weak Ariana Grande on top of him. Ariana gave Lauren a knowing look, but Lauren didn’t have time time to thank her or ask how she did that because Normani was pulling her out the door.

“We gotta go get our stuff, shit,” Normani cursed as they barreled down the empty corridor.

“Forget our stuff, Louis is going to kill us. If we don’t leave now, we’re dead meat!” Lauren hissed as they rounded the corner.

Normani shook her head rapidly. “But Ashley…”

“Right behind you bitches!” Ashley called out from ten feet behind them. “What an amazing show you pulled off, but we are so fucked!”

Lauren rolled her eyes as they stopped at the door to allow Ashley to catch up. “You don’t say!” Ashley finally reached them, exhaling roughly and looking extremely out of breath. There was no time to process what had gone down in the cafeteria. From Keana being  imprisoned, to Lucy almost dying, and then Lauren’s powers, that was some crazy messed up stuff.

Just then a brown blur blew past them and Justin Bieber came barreling down the hall. The brown blur stopped and Lauren’s eyes widened, it was Ariana Grande. “Look we don’t have much time. Well you guys don’t have much time, I literally have all the time in the world,” Ariana started saying.

“We want to come with you,” Justin added. “Ari and I aren’t safe either. My dad owns Clifftop Hotel and Resort, we can go there. Plus I can drive.”

“We had a plan to escape too,” Ariana continued. “Packed our bags and everything.”

Normani quickly nodded her head. “Please, the more the merrier, but our stuff is still in our dorms.”

Ariana winked. “Leave that to me, Kordei, I’ll go get everyone’s stuff. You guys go find a van that’s unlocked. I’ll meet you guys down there.” Before any of them could respond, Ariana was out the door in a quick second.

The four of them ran as fast as they could out the door. Lauren had a hard time wrapping her head around what was going on. Her head was racing with thoughts about a mile a minute. The parking lot wasn’t even far from the main school building but it sure felt like it was light years away. Lauren tensed when she heard shouting coming from the building. Louis must have gotten a bearing and sent his goons after them.

Justin was the fastest runner of the current group so he was the first one to the black vans with tinted windows that were parked nearby. He began pulling on doors and banging on doors. Normani arrived next and she did the same to the second van. Lauren and Ashley made it to the third van and before they could try anything they heard Normani squeal.

“Shit I froze the door!” Normani cried out in frustration.

“Mine is busted for sure,” Justin added with a soft sigh.

Ashley shrugged her shoulders and tried to open the door of the van. To Lauren’s surprise, the door opened. 

“Third van is unlocked, hurry!” Ashley called. Justin and Normani came running over to the van. Lauren went to the other side of the van and opened the back door. She climbed in and lunged, clinging to the very back seat.

Suddenly a force hit her ass and she gasped, turning to find Normani trying to climb in as well. “Move your Cuban ass out of here,” she grumbled. Lauren sighed and sat up properly. Normani took the seat to her right. Ashley climbed in after them and took the seat to Lauren’s left.

Justin opened the driver’s door and started the van. As if on cue, Ariana had returned with all of their bags. She tossed them, one by one, to the three of them and then closed the back door. Once Ariana got in the front seat, Lauren looked ahead to find Zayn and a whole bunch of boys running towards them.

“Step on it Justin! Reverse! Fuck, go!” Lauren shouted.

Justin shifted into reverse and slammed on the gas pedal. Lauren jolted forward at the quickness of Justin. He seemed to have done a successful getaway before because when Lauren was still in a daze due to Justin’s sudden movements, the van was already making it’s way down the highway. She finally relaxed. They were all free from that hellhole of a school.

“I can’t believe we’re making Justin drive. He’s the one that got sent to Coates because of a DUI charge,” Ariana commented.

And the laughter that came from the five of them afterwards made Lauren forget that they were in the middle of a strange phenomenon with no adults and kids with superpowers.

* * *

Perdido Beach - 290 Hours, 07 Minutes

“Sofi, Sofi!” Camila cried out into the empty house. She wiped the sweat beads off of her forehead as she looked around the empty living room. Nothing, it was completely silent and dark except for the static coming from the TV that was left on. Camila let out a shaky breath. The past few hours were spent looking for her little sister in any place she thought she could find her. Camila’s house, Dinah’s house, Ally’s house, Shawn’s house, her favorite ice cream parlor, and the toy store. Shawn joined up with them to help look about an hour ago. He had tried to go surfing but commented that there were no waves whatsoever.

“See? The TV’s broken too,” Dinah pointed out as she pushed past Camila. “The universe takes our parents and all of our electronics.”

“Don’t forget the turf,” Shawn mumbled.

“Nobody was talking to you surfer boy,” Dinah snapped.

Ally frowned. “Guys, let’s not fight now, maybe we should take a rest. We’ve been looking for Sofi for hours, we need to take care of ourselves.”

Camila bit down on her lower lip. Ally gave her a pleading look.

“Please Mila? It’s late and we’re hungry and tired. I’m not just speaking for myself.”

Camila knew Ally was right but she still wanted to persist on looking for her little sister. The disturbing thought of Sofi being left out there all alone bothered her greatly. She would fail to be a good older sister if she just abandoned her.

“Okay,” she said in defeat.

Dinah whooped excitedly. “Okay, I’mma see if this house has good food. If not, we’re gonna go somewhere else.” With a wink, her best friend strutted to the kitchen. Ally let out a tired sigh and collapsed onto the couch. Shawn and Camila were the only ones still left standing.

“Crazy day, huh?” Shawn asked, breaking the ice.

Camila laughed quietly. “Yeah, I was going to ask the girl at the ice cream parlor out too. Guess she poofed as well.”

“Yo, I found a frozen pizza but the oven isn’t working!” Dinah yelled from the kitchen. A sudden crash was heard from the kitchen. “Now it really isn’t working.”

“You are testing the Lord’s patience,” Ally mumbled in annoyance as she rubbed her forehead.

An idea popped into Camila’s head and for once she knew this would be one of her good ideas. Not like the one where she tried to slalom when the winds were exceeding 15 miles per hour, more like the ones where she had caramel sauce and whipped cream for lunch one day. “Guys let’s go to Clifftop. It’s one of the places where Sofi might go plus it’s a luxury resort!”

Dinah appeared from the kitchen while waving the frozen pizza box. “Does it have a functioning oven?”

“Probably,” Camila replied with a chuckle.

“Then I am so down for eating pizza while sitting in one of those nice suites.”

Camila turned to Shawn expectantly. He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. “I don’t have a preference whatsoever.”

Ally whined and rolled onto her back. She yawned quietly and stretched her limbs out. “If it gets you to sit down and relax I think it’s a good idea. I just don’t know if I can walk that far.”

“I can carry you,” Shawn offered.

Dinah snorted. “You’re literally a stringbean.”

Shawn didn’t respond, only walked over and scooped Ally up with ease into his arms. Camila and Dinah both looked at each other in disbelief. Camila had never seen Shawn express that kind of strength ever and she knew for sure that surfing could not provide that kind of strength building. If that were the case, then Camila would be as strong as the Incredible Hulk.

The four of them exited the house with Camila in the lead, Shawn right behind her, and Dinah straggling a little bit because she kept admiring the frozen pizza box. It was completely silent in the streets. Usually Camila would hear the waves crash against the shore and find peace in that but the eerie silence made her very uncomfortable.

_ “I hope Regina will be safe with Bea at the daycare,” _ Dinah mumbled.  _ “There are so many little kids.” _

Camila turned back to look at her friend. “Everything will be okay,” she assured her with a soft smile. “I trust Bea.”

Dinah’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Chancho, I didn’t say anything about Bea.”

Camila tilted her head in confusion. “You just said something though!”

“No Mila, no one’s said anything since we left the house,” Shawn assured her.

Camila bit her lip in confusion. How could she have sworn she heard Dinah say something? It made no sense, she heard her clearly.

“I think I’m just tired,” she admitted with a small shrug. “I’ll go get some sleep once we get there.”

The highway was abandoned. Several cars had run off the road while others crashed into each other. None of them had to be functional because otherwise they would have heard engines running. The gas must have run out or Camila was too out of it to hear things. She heard a rumbling in the distance however, but it was behind them. And it wasn’t like they could run back to see the commotion. Dinah was too lazy, Camila was too short, and Shawn was carrying another human being.

The rumbling was getting louder and it caused Camila to stop. She turned around to see two headlights heading straight towards their group.

“Holy shit!” Camila shouted.

“Get out of the way!” Dinah pulled Camila to the side of the road and Shawn quickly joined them, holding Ally close to his chest. The van halted to a stop.

“Justin Drew Bieber!” a feminine voice shouted from inside the van. “Who taught you how to drive? You almost killed those guys!”

“Uh, you said so yourself that I shouldn’t drive because of my DUI charge! But it still happened!” the guy that Camila assumed was Justin shouted back.

“Shouldn’t we check to see if they’re okay?” a different girl asked from inside.

The passenger side of the car opened and a petite girl stepped out. She had long brown hair that was highlighted and big almond eyes. Her skin was rather tan but the most distinctive feature of her was her Coates Academy uniform. Camila shook her head in disbelief. What were the rich and snobby Coates kids doing outside of their stinkhole?

A blonde guy climbed out of the driver’s seat. He had a dumbfounded expression on his rather dopey face. He also was wearing a Coates Academy uniform, but he wasn’t wearing the blazer that the other girl was wearing. Camila concluded that was who Justin was.

Three other girls emerged from the back door. One of them had vibrant blue hair and light brown eyes. She wasn’t wearing a blazer and her hair was a little disheveled and a cocky smirk on her lips. The second girl was dark-skinned and had rather short black hair. Her expression was rather intimidating and her brown eyes seemed to have an ability to stare into people’s souls. The final girl, Camila was shocked to find to be the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. She had raven hair and vibrant green eyes, probably the most gorgeous pair of green eyes that Camila had ever seen. Her expression was emotionless but Camila did notice that her blazer was rather loose on her shoulders, almost as if she was about to slip it off.

“Ashley?” Dinah asked from beside her.

“Woah,” the blue haired girl said with a grin. “Hey Dinah, nice to see you again.”

“That’s the girl you’ve been talking to?” Camila asked incredulously.

“That’s the girl you fucked in Perdildo Beach?” The green eyed girl asked the girl named Ashley in amusement.

“I thought it was called Perdido Beach…” Justin remarked with confusion.

“It is. She was making a joke,” the short girl informed him.

Camila’s jaw clenched and she glared at Dinah. Of all people Dinah had to sleep with, it had to be someone from Coates Academy. They were all criminals and wrong-doers, people that Dinah shouldn’t be hanging around.

“Dinah,” Camila pleaded. “A Coates Academy kid, really?”

“You make it sound like we’re criminals,” the dark-skinned girl growled. “I was only sent to Coates because my grades were failing. I never did anything bad.”

Ashley placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Easy, Normani, we’re all friends here.” The girl called Normani shrugged her shoulders and took a step back. “Now for reals, are you guys okay?”  
“I think so,” Ally replied calmly. “I think you just gave us quite a scare.”

Ashley smiled. “Sorry. Justin’s an idiot, but we were in a hurry to escape from that school. I don’t wanna burden you guys with the details because today has been really messed up. But just know that we’re probably in the same boat as you.” Camila was genuinely a little surprised to find out that Ashley was actually rather nice or maybe she was acting that way just to prove to her that she was good enough for Dinah. Camila knew she could be overprotective at times.

The short girl laughed. “Messed up is an understatement. I’m Ariana by the way.” Ariana began pointing out the rest of her friends. “Justin, the crazy driver, and you already know Ashley  apparently.” She pointed at Normani and the mysterious green-eyed girl. “And those two are Normani and Lauren. They may look like they’ll cut you, but I promise they’re good people.”

Camila’s gaze moved towards Lauren. She couldn’t help but think that Lauren was such a pretty name and that name suited her very well. And then her shining green eyes were looking back into hers, she couldn’t bring herself to look away. She gave off a vibe that sent chills to her spine and she wanted to know more. Lauren was like a new book, a story that had yet to be told, and Camila couldn’t wait to open up the first page.

“Well, I’m Dinah,” Dinah greeted, breaking Camila and Lauren from their staring match. Lauren’s lips curved into a smirk and Camila found herself blushing. “That’s Camila, my best friend, I’m sorry about her. Just give her some time and bananas and she’ll be wrapped around your finger.”

Camila swatted her friend’s arm angrily. “Oh my God, Dinah! Shut up!” She groaned.

Dinah grinned and ignored her. “These two are Shawn and Ally. Ally’s the sweet church girl we all know and love. Shawn’s the gay surfer dude that looks like a twelve year old.”

Shawn rolled his eyes. “Is there an off switch for you, Hansen?”

“Interesting.” Normani chuckled. “I was convinced the only gays were at Coates Academy. I don’t feel as alone now.”

Dinah laughed loudly in agreement. “I like you already Normani. Trust me, Perdido Beach is just as gay. Well I’m bisexual, but Camila here is a huge lesbian.”

“Don’t out me, Dinah!” Camila scowled.

_ “Just when I thought things couldn’t get anymore amusing, it does.”  _ Lauren’s velvety voice spoke which caused Camila’s heart to melt.  _ “The hottie is gay and I wouldn't mind tapping that. God, I hope she isn’t a typical ditz.”  _

“I’m not a ditz,” she blurted out in response.

Silence. All eyes were on her and Camila’s cheeks started to burn up. Everyone else looked confused except for Dinah who gave her a look that seemed to tell her ‘I don’t know what’s up with you’ and Lauren who looked like a deer in headlights.

“Um.” Camila coughed. “Nice weather we’re having?”

“Chancho what the fuck? This is the second time you’ve done this!” Dinah hissed.

“I could have sworn she said something!”

Camila looked at Lauren for help, but the green-eyed girl’s brows were furrowed as if she was trying to figure out something. She figured that the girl wouldn’t defend a stranger anyways but it was worth a shot.

“Dinah,” Lauren said in a commanding tone. Camila watched as Dinah looked right into Lauren’s eyes. “Can you please drop it? Camila didn’t do anything out of the ordinary.”

Dinah hesitated for a moment before replying, “I’ll drop it.” Camila’s eyes widened in disbelief. Dinah was the most stubborn girl that Camila ever knew. The fact that she just dropped her curiosity so easily was appalling. Did Lauren have some sort of effect on her that she didn’t know about? She concluded that she was going crazy because of the circumstances.

Ally yawned loudly and then quickly covered her mouth. “Oh, I’m so tired! Can we go to Clifftop now? It was nice meeting you guys!”

Justin’s face lit up. “Oh, we’re going to Clifftop too! My dad owns the place so I know where the master key is.”

Ariana nodded. “Come ride in our van! It’s too dark to walk,” she offered.

The four of them gladly accepted Ariana’s offer and soon they all climbed into the van. Ally and Shawn sat in the very back with Ally drifting off while leaning against the window.  Camila and Dinah chose to sit in the middle row while Ashley, Normani, and Lauren sat in front. Ariana was in the passenger seat and Justin was driving.

The ride took about ten minutes and no one really said anything except for Normani and Dinah. Camila noticed the two seemed to be clicking quite easily as the both of them bonded over dancing and their favorite music artists. Normani didn’t seem like a bad person and if Camila were to be completely honest, none of them seemed like bad people. The Coates Academy stereotype was just ingrained into her mind.

Justin pulled into the driveway next to the main entrance and turned off the car. He craned his neck and looked at everyone through the rearview mirror. “Alright I know where the one master key is that opens all the doors. Each suite has three beds, two queens and one king, so we can divide up accordingly.”

“Ally is pretty much dead over here so I’ll just put her in the king bed and sleep in one of the queens,” Shawn offered.

Justin nodded. “Okay man, I’ll go with you so it isn’t weird for gender ratios. Cause we're the only dudes you know.”

“I can room with Dinah,” Ashley offered while wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Camila heard Lauren make a gagging noise. “And I guess Ariana can join us since Lauren here is being a little bitch.”

“That leaves Camila, Laur, and me, right?” Normani asked for confirmation.

“Mhm,” Camila hummed tiredly, rubbing her eyes. This crazy day was really getting to her.

“Great I call the king size bed, you and Lauren can have the queens.”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “Wow thanks for asking, Mani.”

The group unloaded from the van and made their way into the hotel. Justin climbed over the hotel’s reception desk and made his way into the manager’s office. Two minutes later he  emerged with three master keys, giving two of them to Ariana and Normani each. The elevator was still in operation so they all squeezed into there and rode up to the top floor. With a ding Shawn and Ally left the elevator first with Justin behind them.

“Goodnight guys,” Ally mumbled sleepily. “I’ll make us cinnamon rolls tomorrow.”

“I’m holding you to that promise,” Dinah warned her as she beckoned Ashley and Ariana to follow her to their suite.

Camila walked in silence next to Normani as Lauren and them made their way to their suite. Just as Normani opened the door, Lauren grabbed onto her arm and Camila nearly jumped. “Easy tiger, I just wanted to talk,” Lauren teased her.

Camila rolled her eyes. “It’s not my fault that I’ve been extra jumpy today.”

The door was closing behind Normani and Lauren quickly moved to hold it open. Camila smiled weakly and mumbled her thanks as she stepped inside. Lauren closed the door behind them.

“Alright, I’m going to bed. Don’t wake me up unless you have to.” Normani pointed at Lauren and Lauren held her hands up in defeat. “Good night Laur and Camila.” Camila waved to the girl from Coates Academy and turned her full attention to Lauren once Normani closed the door to her bedroom.

Camila smiled nervously at Lauren. For some reason, the moonlight shining into the room made Lauren look like a moon goddess and Camila found her beauty to be much more enhanced in the moment. Her eyes were sparkling and her soft pink lips so kissable. Camila condemned herself for having such gay thoughts.

“About what happened on the highway. I’m guessing you have some sort of power,” Lauren said.

“Power?” Camila asked.

“Yeah, well...some of us have been getting powers. Like Normani can freeze things, Ashley can heal people, and Ariana can run super fast and apparently I have powers too.”

Camila bit her lip. “Oh. Dinah has powers too. She put out a fire today by manipulating the water like a waterbender, like in that tv show _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.”

Lauren giggled softly. “Honestly? I was always a sucker for Korra.”

“But I think I know what your power is.”

“What is it?”

Camila looked into Lauren’s eyes. She took a step closer to her and saw that familiar glint that she had when she was talking to Dinah and told her to drop the subject. “It’s your eyes. You have some sort of persuasion ability with your eyes. They look at you and they just can’t resist or say no to you.”

Lauren ran her tongue across her lower lip which caused Camila to shudder. “It makes sense. But I usually only feel the need to when I’m angry or passionate. I feel like I need to get my point across.”

“And what about my power?” she asked timidly.

_ “You have a special gift, Camila,” _ Lauren mumbled softly.

“Well obviously,” Camila shot back. Lauren smirked and Camila realized just then what had just happened. She ran a hand through her brown tresses. “You didn’t say that out loud either, didn’t you?”

“You can hear other people’s thoughts,” Lauren concluded. “I’m sorry if you were creeped out by what I was thinking earlier.”

“I wasn’t, don’t worry.” She laughed and shook her head. “If anything I was flattered. No girl has ever told me I’m hot. Out loud or not.”

Lauren narrowed her eyes. “I think that’s bullshit.”

Camila shrugged her shoulders in response. It was no secret that she was insecure about how she looked, but for a split second she forgot how she viewed herself. She actually felt pretty when Lauren complimented her. The heat rising to her cheeks had to be noticeable if Lauren had good night vision. Her eyes had never left Lauren’s green ones and both of them seemed to be okay with that.

“I think we should go to bed.” Camila regretfully moved her gaze away from Lauren. “I don’t have any pyjamas.”

Lauren smiled, reaching over to squeeze her shoulder. “You can borrow some of mine. They might be a little big on you, but I’m sure they’ll work.”

“That’s perfect.”

“Just like you.”

Camila blushed and coughed to cover it up. “Okay you flirt, give me your clothes and let’s call it a night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had fun with this one. I might post this on Wattpad if I decide to revamp my account there, but stay tuned for more! I hope you guys like it!


	3. THE FAYZ

Clifftop Hotel - 277 Hours, 06 Minutes

Lauren woke up to find her vision impaired by the bright sun. She groaned, cursing herself for forgetting to close the curtains the night before. Usually she was woken by “Bootylicious” which was the tone set for Normani’s alarm, but Normani was in a different room so of course she wouldn’t hear it. Now she was late for class.

Except, there wasn’t any class. Lauren wasn’t at Coates Academy anymore. Lauren sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. “Fuck,” she mumbled. She turned to her left to find that the bed next to her was empty. Camila must have already gotten up.

_Camila_. Lauren was fascinated with her from the start. The moment she stepped out of the van and looked at the four Perdido Beach kids. She found her to be the most attractive one of the three girls. And apparently Ashley had a fling going on with her best friend so that gave her more of a reason to talk to her. But then the whole mind-reading fiasco happened and Lauren was perplexed, amused, and very attracted to the brown eyed girl.

Their conversation last night left Lauren breathless. It wasn’t long, but talking to Camila felt easy and safe. Camila seemed to have a view of the world that Lauren agreed with and the anticipation of future interactions were intriguing. She just hoped Camila had the same fascination as she did. Lauren wouldn’t call it a crush, but it was the formation of something similar to that.

Lauren slipped out of bed and stretched her arms. Her dark hair was rather tangly but she didn’t feel the need to brush it. She exited the bedroom and stepped out into the main room. It was empty and quiet except for the sounds of seagulls. The door to the balcony was open. She crept towards the door slowly and peered out: there Camila was, leaning against the railing and looking out to sea.

Lauren stepped out onto the balcony and leaned against the railing next to her. “Hey,” she greeted.

Camila visibly flinched when she heard Lauren which caused her to squeak. It took everything in Lauren’s power to not point out how adorable she was. “Hi,” she mumbled sleepily as she turned to look at Lauren.

“How did you sleep last night?”

Camila shrugged her shoulders. “Not so well.”

“How come?” she asked, trying not to think too much of it. An irrational part of her believed that it was her fault that Camila had trouble sleeping.

The look on Camila’s face made Lauren’s heart wrench. “My sister’s missing. I spent all afternoon looking for her. I checked so many people’s houses and I thought she’d be at Clifftop because my mom works here but she’s not.”

Lauren frowned sympathetically.

“I feel like I’m a bad sister for not finding Sofi faster.”

“But you’re not, Camila,” she argued. She ran a hand through her hair and flipped it to the side. It was one of her crazy nervous ticks. “I left my siblings to go to Coates without saying goodbye. I could have but I was too upset with my parents to bother. That’s how bad of a sister I am, so far you beat me by a mile.”

Camila was silent at first, biting down on her lip. Her gaze was on Lauren’s as if she was searching for something. In that moment she felt very insecure under her gaze and blushed, briefly looking away from her.

“Did you just try to do that persuading thing with me?” She shook her head. “Because it kind of worked.”

Lauren looked back at Camila and rolled her eyes. “No, I meant that without any meaning to make you think otherwise.”

Camila just shrugged her shoulders. “Okay,” she drawled with a small grin. “Whatever you say.”

The two of them stood there in silence, Lauren’s attention was no longer on Camila but on the ocean. It was so weird to see it without any waves. In fact there was no wind at all, the water looked like glass. Lauren came from Santa Barbara and it was one of the nicest places to surf that she had ever encountered, but she heard from whisperings at Coates Academy that Perdido Beach was even better. Too bad she had never experienced it before the sudden disappearance of adults and change in the wind.

From her peripheral vision, she could tell that Camila was staring at her and it made Lauren smirk. She liked having the brunette’s attention on her. Or maybe she was overthinking things because the ocean currently wasn’t the most interesting thing there at the moment. She decided she wanted to try something.

_“I like it when you look at me, it’s like you’re searching into my soul. For once I don’t mind people prying into my life,”_ Lauren thought.

Camila didn’t respond immediately so she assumed that she didn’t hear her.

“Did you hear what I was thinking?” Lauren glanced over at Camila, who was now looking at the ground.

“No, I don’t hear everyone’s thoughts at all times so I guess it’s on-and-off or I just don’t know how to control it,” she mumbled.

Lauren didn’t want to admit that she wished that Camila heard her, but she actually did. It was very poetic and something she wanted to say out loud but didn’t have the balls to.

“Lauren? Camila?” Normani called from inside the suite. Both girls jumped up in surprise, seeming to have forgotten that there was another person in their suite. “Ally told me to tell you breakfast is ready so if you guys don’t hurry your asses down here, Ashley and I will eat your cinnamon rolls.”

Breakfast was something that Lauren never missed, so she was out and barreling towards the door.

The nine of them sat in the hotel’s dining room. It was large, like a banquet hall, but very minimalistic. One of the distinctive features was a giant window that showed the pool and the tennis courts. None of them were looking outside though, they were too enraptured in a group conversation as Ariana told the story of the Coates Academy failed pep rally.

“That’s like, some rip-off Carrie kind of stuff without the blood,” Shawn commented with disgust. “Like are the people at Coates that cruel?”

Lauren had to laugh. “Yes Shawn, we’re cruel and we’re bored. It’s cause we’re all bad people,” she replied sarcastically.

Dinah slammed her hands on the table abruptly causing Ally to jump in her seat next to her. “That reminds me, why did you all get sent to Coates?”

“Bad grades,” Normani grumbled.

“DUI charge,” Justin said with a sigh.

“Being gay and drinking alcohol,” Lauren admitted. The look on Camila’s face didn’t go unnoticed. She couldn’t tell if it was sympathy, concern, or contempt.

“I licked a donut,” Ariana deadpanned.

Eight pairs of eyes were on her in that moment. Four of those pairs were for sure confused, while the other four were incredulous. Leave it to Ariana Grande to make a joke like that and pass it off so casually.

Ariana giggled childishly. “I’m kidding, I got addicted to shoplifting and stole about $1,000 worth of lip gloss and eyeliner.”

“As for me,” Ashley began, rubbing her hands together in excitement. “I got in a bad fight. I broke a dude’s nose and he pressed charges.”

“So really we’re not bad people, we just did bad things,” Normani explained, reaching over to Lauren’s plate and attempting to grab the rest of her cinnamon roll. Her reflexes were quick and she grabbed her friend’s wrist before the greedy girl could take anything from her. Normani and Lauren’s eyes met and Normani glared at her. “You’re the worst, why won’t you share your food with me?”

Lauren snorted. “Isn’t it obvious? You’d freeze my hand again if I try to take your food. Our friendship is supposed to be a two-way street.”

“And I’m not always going to be around to heal hands again,” Ashley added.

Their banter was interrupted when Camila’s fork dropped suddenly on the table. Dinah snorted, mumbling something incoherent under her breath but Lauren noticed that Camila was looking outside towards the pool. Lauren followed her gaze to the window and what she saw completely shocked her. There was an opaque wall. A wall that seemed to go for miles high and was cutting right through the pool. She couldn’t even see what was on the other side because everything was so cloudy.

“Guys,” Camila mumbled. “What’s that in the pool?”

Everyone was now looking out to where Camila was staring at intently. Ally let out a gasp in horror and nearly jumped into Dinah’s lap.

“I’m gonna go check it out,” Lauren decided, standing up out of her chair.

Normani stood up too. “I’m coming as well.” She turned to the rest of the people at the table. “Anyone else?”

“I’d rather clean the dishes,” Shawn admitted. “Something about that wall that looks like ectoplasm bothers me.”

“Walz, Smallz, and I will come with you guys,” Dinah stood up. Camila and Ally both looked at her like she was crazy. “What? Mila noticed the whole thing first and I refuse to let your hard working ass wash the dishes.”

Ally sighed and shook her head. “Fine, but only because I need to watch over you four. I don’t trust you guys with a big ass wall.” She turned to Ashley, Shawn, Ariana, and Justin expectantly. “The rest of you are on kitchen duty, chop-chop!”

“Wait, why should we wash dishes? There’s no adults that will tell us otherwise,” Justin complained. Ariana rolled her eyes and slapped his shoulder.

The five of them left their friends to go out to the pool deck and tennis courts. Lauren stared at the wall apprehensively. How exactly was this wall made? It’s not like a phenomenon like a sudden disappearance of adults could cause this, and Troye Sivan wasn’t here to answer her questions. She picked up a tennis ball that had rolled out onto the deck from the resort’s tennis courts and threw it at the wall. The impact made a singeing noise but came bouncing right back and nearly hitting her in the eye.

Her next resort was to walk up and touch the wall. She could tell four pairs of eyes were on her the entire time. None of them had said a word since they left the dining room and no one seemed opposed for her doing so. She reached out her hand and placed it on the wall. It was the hottest thing she had ever touched even more than the boiling pot she touched when she was about six years old. Lauren cursed loudly and fell backwards, clutching her hand in pain.

“Lauren!” Normani and Camila shouted at the exact same time and came rushing towards her.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, that hurts,” Lauren growled, looking down at her hand. Surprisingly, there were no burn marks whatsoever but her hand still felt like it was on fire.

“You fucking idiot,” Normani grumbled, kneeling down next to her. “In less than twenty four hours you freeze your hand and burn it.”

“Are you okay?” Camila asked, coming up next to her and clutching the injured hand. Lauren rolled her eyes at her best friend before turning to Camila. She looked scared and worried, almost as if she had seen a ghost. Behind them, Dinah had lifted up one of the pool chairs and was making her way towards the wall.

Before Lauren could respond to either of them, Dinah began banging on the wall, trying to force the chair out of the wall, or to at least break it. “Come on, get in there you little bitch,” she seethed, banging the wall again.

“Dinah, stop it! It’s no use!” Ally cried, rushing over to her friend and trying to stop her friend from continuing.

Lauren’s hand stopped burning and she removed it from Camila’s grasp and sent a smile to her and Normani. “I’m good now, thanks guys.” Normani patted her back supportively and stood back up to go and help small and fiery Ally hold off a huge and fiery Dinah. Camila didn’t move, just stared intently at Lauren. She wouldn’t deny that it sent goosebumps to her spine. But she didn’t dare think anything because now with Camila, even her thoughts weren’t safe. “Quit trying to get in my head.”

Camila snorted and rolled her eyes. “Actually, I’m not trying to. I’m just making sure you’re really--”

“Okay that’s it, you stupid wall! You leave me no choice…” Dinah waved her hand angrily and half of the pool came crashing towards the wall like a wave. Just like the tennis ball, it bounced past and came sloshing back towards the girl. “Oh no!” Lauren grabbed Camila’s hand and pulled her up, the two of them running as far as they could towards Clifftop so they wouldn’t get splashed. Normani managed to freeze the droplets that tried to touch her so she was left untouched. Dinah and Ally, however, were completely soaked and Ally was not amused.

“Dinah Jane Hansen, what were you thinking?” Ally shouted, spitting some water out of her mouth.

“I’m sorry! I was trying to help. I didn’t think it would get us all wet.”

“Oh my Lord, I need a change of clothes and to pray that you’ll never do something like that to anyone else.”

“Newsflash, we don’t have any clothes! We walked up here and left our shit at home.”

Normani cleared her throat. “You can borrow something of mine Dinah, we’re around the same size, and I’m sure Ariana has something for Ally.”

“Mani, I don’t think they’d be interested in wearing button down shirts and extra short skirts. We don’t have enough casual clothes to spare,” Lauren replied, hearing Camila giggle next to her.

After fifteen minutes and hot showers for both Dinah and Ally, they rejoined the rest of the group in the main lobby. Ariana and Ashley were playing an intense game of Slapjack and Justin and Shawn were both sharing their predictions on who would win the football game on Sunday, which they wouldn’t be able to see because the TVs were down. Ariana threw her cards down and waved excitedly to them.

“So what was that weird thing outside?” Shawn asked.

“A wall,” Normani answered for everyone. “A wall that caused Laur to burn her hand and Dinah to create a fucking tsunami and soak her and Ally.”

“Man, I missed something entertaining,” Justin whined. Ariana sent him a glare. “What? Lauren is always so dramatic when she injures herself, remember last year when she tripped and fell on the track field?”

Lauren’s nose scrunched together in embarrassment as she recalled that event. “I really did scrape my knee and it hurt, I don’t know why you all thought I wasn’t in pain,” she whined. Normani and Ashley cackled cruelly. Those two were with her when it happened and she forced them to carry her to Nurse Styles’ office.

“Guys, stop picking on Lauren,” Camila pleaded. Lauren smiled widely and turned to thank her. But before she could say those two words Camila continued, “Even though hearing about her being a total loser is kind of funny.” Seven of them roared with laughter while Lauren huffed and crossed her arms.

_“I hate you,”_ Lauren thought. _“You’re so going to pay for being such a bitch.”_

Camila sent her a knowing smirk, she must have heard her thoughts that time. Lauren stuck her tongue out as the laughter died down.

“Okay guys for real, what’s the game plan for today?” Ashley brought everyone back on topic. Lauren saw Camila’s smile fall and her head bow down. She assumed she was thinking about her sister.

“We still need to find Camila’s sister,” Lauren spoke up for Camila. “I think that’s the most important priority.”

Camila nodded slowly. “I want to go check the power plant. My dad works there, so maybe she went there in search of him.”

“That’s pretty logical, but I don’t think you should go there alone. You might get radiation poisoning,” Dinah mumbled.

Lauren chuckled. “Obviously she won’t be alone. I’ll go with her.”

Normani crossed her arms over her chest. “And I’ll come with Lauren again so she won’t do anything stupid.”

“Woah woah woah, we can’t have all the people with powers go to the power plant!” Ariana exclaimed. “What if someone tries to attack us here and take our shit or something?”

Dinah shrugged. “Well I mean all of us have confirmed powers except for Shawn, Justin, and Ally.”

“I’m staying here,” Ariana demanded. “You can go with Normani, Lauren, and Camila. The rest of us are staying here. It’s decided.”

Ashley rolled her eyes. “So bossy,” she grumbled. “Good luck though. I’ve heard Lauren and Normani are terrible drivers.”

Dinah laughed softly, walking over to Camila and wrapping an arm around her waist. “Well I’m actually half-decent so have no fear!” For some reason Lauren didn’t trust Dinah with all four of their lives in a big expensive van.

* * *

 

Perdido Beach - 274 Hours, 27 Minutes

Dinah and Normani happened to find a Beyonce CD hidden in one of the compartments of the van and were currently blasting it on full volume. Camila loved Dinah, but if she had to hear her fail to match some of Queen Bey’s high notes again she was going to scream. Lauren didn’t seem too fazed by it because she was humming along to each of the songs contently.

“Baby come to me,” Dinah sang.

“Come to me babe,” Normani sang along, doing the harmony for the bridge for “End of Time.”

Camila let out an exasperated sigh and leaned back into her seat. She was tempted to kick Dinah’s chair and tell her to shut up but Dinah had a reputation for getting crazy pissed whenever someone bothered her while singing or driving. The last time that happened, Dinah almost crashed the car for trying to beat up one of their other friends. The power plant had to be nearby. They had gotten a late start to getting into the van because Dinah wanted her hair to dry fully and by the time she was done with that Lauren and Ashley were caught into a heated debate over Lorde’s best album.

She looked over at Lauren, who was looking straight ahead at the back of Normani’s head. She must have sensed that Camila was looking at her because she turned and tilted her head, giving Camila a warm smile.

_“Hi,”_ Lauren greeted.

Camila didn’t see Lauren’s mouth move so she sighed and shook her head. “Was that necessary?”

_“Nah, but I find it really cool. You can really see a person for who they are based on their thoughts. And now I don’t have to formulate words. I wish we had some sort of telepathic link though.”_ Lauren thought.

Camila shrugged. “Maybe we could. Do people have more than one power at Coates Academy?”

Lauren nodded. _“Yeah, Louis did. He could lift humans and objects with his mind. Telekinesis usually is limited to just objects.”_

A look of confusion filled her features. “Who’s Louis?” Normani gasped and reached over, turning off the stereo suddenly. Dinah gave her a ‘what the fuck’ look, clearly offended that someone had the audacity to turn off the music that she loved.

Normani turned around to look at Camila. “He’s the guy we all ran from at Coates. He took control of the school and he even has plans to come and take over Perdido Beach. Please tell me you guys have some sort of leader?”

Dinah hummed in thought. “The only potential leaders I see are Harry Styles and Jade Thirlwall, maybe Bea Miller and Niall Horan too. Except Niall’s part of Liam’s gang and he spends too much time in Bully Row.”

“Y’all have gangs? Maybe Perdido Beach isn’t that innocent as it seems,” Normani remarked.

Suddenly Dinah slammed on the brakes, sending Camila flying forward, even with the seatbelt on she was easily tossed around. Lauren reached over and offered her hand. She gladly took it and sat back up.

Dinah rolled down the windows next to her and Normani and stuck her head out. “What the fuck Horan and Payne? Don’t fucking jump in front of the highway like that!”

“Ha, nice one Dinah Pain-in-the-ass, but you’re not welcome past this point, this is our territory,” Niall called, crossing his arms over his chest with a wide smirk.

Dinah groaned and rolled her eyes. “Since when blondie?”

Four more guys walked up behind Liam and Niall. Camila recognized three of them: Michael, Ashton, and Luke, but the fourth guy she didn’t recognize but he was wearing black slacks and his white button down shirt was opened and a tie was tied across his head like a bandana. “Since the FAYZ,” Niall replied smugly.

“What the fuck is a phase?” Normani asked, sticking her head out the window to look at the hooligans as well.

“Hey Kordei! Nice to see you again,” the weird boy in the tie bandana called.

“Why are you here Calum? I expected you to suck up to Louis the first chance you got,” she shot back. So that boy was from Coates Academy, no wonder she didn’t know who he was.

“Nah,” he drawled. “I didn’t like how things were run there so I found some better friends.”

“Are we going to ignore that happy-go-lucky boy just said something that’s totally bizarre? Calling this shit a phase, how long is this phase supposed to last?” Dinah growled.

Niall laughed, making a tsk sound with his lips. “No, it’s my clever name for Liam’s new domain.” He smiled widely. “F-A-Y-Z. ‘Stands for Fallout Alley Youth Zone.”

Camila hated to admit it, but it was actually a good name. Perdido Beach was part of a Fallout Alley because of the nuclear power plant that was about ten miles away. Eighteen years ago a meteorite struck the tower and leaked radiation into the air. They managed to close it up, but the damage had been done, almost everything in town was guaranteed to have some sort of radiation. And it created an inside joke so that whenever someone got sick, they blamed it on the radiation to which the other person would reply “radiation? What radiation?”

“It’s actually kind of smart,” Lauren mumbled quietly.

Dinah on the other hand, found it hilarious. She knocked her head back against the seat and burst out cackling. “Oh my God! FAYZ. Like a phase but...oh my god.” She wiped the tears forming on her eyes. “Hey Walz, get this! We don’t need to worry the FAYZ is just a phase!”

Camila let out a long sigh. “Dinah, shut the fuck up.”

“Get on with it!” Liam yelled.

Niall jumped up a bit and shook his head. No matter how tough or cheerful Niall acted, he was definitely afraid of Liam. Camila didn’t even have to try and listen to his thoughts. “So, we’re going to need you to pay a fine for going into our territory. Cause this part of the highway is ours.”

Dinah sighed. “Okay, what do you guys want?”

“Your van,” Liam answered.

“Your bodies,” Michael answered at the exact same time, earning a slap on the back of his head from his two friends.

Normani laughed. “Yeah, not happening.”

The small gang was silent at first, looking at Liam apprehensively. He nodded his head and they began to swarm the van. Dinah was quick to react though, mumbling a “hell no” under her breath and stepping on the gas. Camila jerked forward again and she heard the gang scream in surprise as they moved out of the way. One of the things she hated was Dinah’s reckless driving but for once she was so pleased to have a friend who would definitely get ten tickets for speeding. Camila turned to watch as they tried to chase after the van. It was no use, the only person who could catch up was Ariana only because she had super speed.

She pulled herself back up onto the seat and rubbed her head. “You okay, Camila?” Lauren asked with a bit of concern.

“Considering I’ve been thrown across the car a few times, I don’t think so,” she joked. Lauren laughed quietly and then returned to silence.

In fact no one talked until they got to the power plant. It looked abandoned with the large barbed wire fences and the extra space of the huge plant itself. The parking lot was empty and the only noise came from the actual plant itself.

“Well this isn’t terrifying,” Lauren muttered under her breath as she got out of the van.

Camila followed after her, not waiting for Dinah or Normani to exit, but she knew that they would come with. Where else would they go? “I once visited dad at work and it was honestly the worst. The fact that things can go to crap and obliterate everything in a span of a few seconds and my dad has control over that.” She shuddered.

They stopped at the gate and waited for Dinah and Normani to catch up with them. Camila studied the tall chain link fence. Wire was poking out from several awkward places which made it look impossible to climb.

Normani sighed loudly. “Yeah, I don’t think we’ll be getting in there any time soon.”

“Shut up Black Elsa,” Dinah grumbled. All three of them looked at her in horror and Camila had to stop herself from laughing. “Okay shit, that wasn’t very nice, I meant to say. If there’s a will for Dinah Jane, there’s a way for Dinah Jane.”

“That made no sense,” Lauren said.

Dinah narrowed her eyes. “No one asked you Lauser!”

“What is a Lauser?”

“You.” Dinah snapped her hand in a z formation. “Lauren and loser together makes Lauser, your new nickname.”

Lauren’s face flushed in embarrassment which caused Camila to giggle. “Don’t worry. Dinah’s way of showing friendship is to give people nicknames. She calls me Walz, Chancho, and Mila.”

“Everyone calls you Mila though, it’s not that special.” Camila stuck her tongue out at Dinah.

“Has anyone considered you calling Cami or Camz?”

Camila shook her head. “Shawn calls me Cami sometimes. It’s his affectionate name for me.”

Lauren’s nostrils flared and Camila clearly heard her think, _“Shawn better stay in his lane or I’m gonna fuck a boy up.”_ However she chose to ignore it, Camila did say her powers were on and off, but that was only the case for the other people. She heard most of Lauren’s thoughts clearly, even the one that morning that she pretended not to hear.

“But Camz is a new one,” Camila continued. Lauren’s grin returned and she clapped her hands together excitedly.

“I’ll call you Camz from now on. It’ll be my special nickname for you.”

Camila started blushing and Dinah started coughing loudly but it sounded like she was saying “that’s gay” in between coughs.

Normani walked up to the gate and touched one of the awkward wires. She lightly pinched it and it froze the wire. Camila watched as she pulled it and broke it in half. Normani continued to do the same to other stray wires. Soon she had cleared it enough so it was easy to climb. They all cheered for her and Lauren whooped and hollered her name. Normani decided to be the first one to climb the gate, followed by Dinah, because they were the two with the so-called more powerful powers. Camila would go next so Lauren could lift her up because she couldn’t reach the first spot they would use for climbing and Camila would jump down and Normani and Dinah would catch her. When it was Camila’s turn, she took a deep breath and allowed herself to be lifted up by Lauren. Although she didn’t show it, Lauren holding her made her heart race and it ended way too soon and she was over the fence before she could truly enjoy it.

After Lauren finally got over the fence, the four of them made their way to the main entrance. Dinah suggested that they go to the gatehouse and open the gate so they could leave easily, but Camila didn’t want to waste any more minutes. Her little sister had to be inside or she’d be forced to take the ‘worst sister ever’ award. They walked silently down the hallway, the only sound coming from their feet or the humming of the controls and the actual plant in work.

“This place isn’t creepy at all,” Normani said. “Watch a clown jump out and try to kill us.”

“Don’t give the universe any ideas,” Dinah reprimanded her with a scowl. Camila didn’t have anything to say about their bickering because her attention was focused at the control room in the end of the hallway.

“Sofi?” Camila called. No one responded. She exhaled loudly and picked up her pace. Once she reached the end of the hallway, she pushed the door open with a loud thud. “Sofi? Are you in here?”

Camila heard a whine. And it wasn’t just any whine coming from the machines or the static from the broken computers. She knew that whine. In the middle of the room sat her little sister rocking back and forth anxiously. “Sofi, oh my God,” Camila gasped, rushing over to her. She gently placed her hand on her sister’s shoulder, she didn’t want to scare her because she knew how her sister got when people touched her suddenly and sharply.

“Kaki?” Sofi mumbled, turning around in her seat. When she saw Camila, she immediately pulled her into a big hug and Camila was all too willing to hug her back. “I was so scared I was alone.”

“Are you okay? Hungry? Thirsty? Tired?” Camila probed.

“Hungry.” Sofi nodded.

Camila whipped her head around to find that Dinah, Normani, and Lauren had caught up to her. “Cheechee, can you get something from the vending machine? Sofi’s hungry.”

Dinah nodded but Lauren quickly held her hand up. “I got it Camz. I don’t want to freak your sister out because I’m a stranger.” Camila smiled gratefully at the raven haired girl and turned her attention back to Sofi.

“Daddy disappeared.” Sofi sniffled. Camila brought her hand up to wipe away at a few tears. “I was scared. There was a loud noise. I don’t like loud noises, and they wouldn’t stop leave me alone, and then it stopped.”

Camila bit her lip. “What stopped?”

“It stopped. Bad things were stopped. They’re gone now.”

Camila hated the pronoun game more than ever at that moment. Sofi was never good with expressing her thoughts, even more so when she felt scared or under pressure. She didn’t bother asking more questions, just pulled Sofi closer to her and held her as she cried.

“Dinah,” Normani hissed. “Come check this out on the screen.” She watched as the two crowded over a small screen. “It’s the nuclear fallout map. The redzone is in a ten mile radius of the power plant.”

“The whole town’s in there,” Dinah commented.

“Hold on.” Normani leaned in. “I’m seeing something. The redzone cuts right through the south end where Clifftop is.”

Dinah tilted her head to the side. “Does that mean that the wall…?” She shook her head violently. “No, this has to be a coincidence.”

Normani sighed, turning to look at Dinah. “It’s the FAYZ, everything impossible is possible.”

And then they were silenced by Sofi’s loud scream and the flickering of the lights in that room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually surprised as to how dedicated I am to this and how I've been writing like crazy lately. Please let this writing spree continue until the end of this because this is a rare occasion.


	4. HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS

 

Perdido Beach - 255 Hours, 42 Minutes

The Town Plaza was empty except for five estranged Coates Academy students, lounging on the grass. All of them hadn’t seen their Perdido Beach friends since Dinah and Camila came back with Lauren and Normani and demanded Ally and Shawn to come with them. Lauren and Normani tried to explain to their friends what was going on but neither of them knew much. Lauren was searching for a snack during the whole fiasco and Normani, who had witnessed Camila’s little sister’s meltdown, didn’t know what to say.

Camila promised Lauren that she would contact her when things calmed down with her sister. That was almost twenty hours ago, not that she was counting.

“I bet they ditched us because we’re a bunch of weirdos,” Justin grumbled, throwing a handful of grass on top of Ariana’s head. She flashed her middle finger at him in response.

“I mean, why would they? They can’t just leave us to figure out what nice old Perdido Beach is like,” Ariana defended.

Lauren shot up as she suddenly heard rumbling. The sound of cars, but Lauren knew those sounds. They were just like the Coates Academy vehicles. Her eyes widened as she watched two SUVs drive down the main street. Groups of kids were following the vehicle, transfixed and in a daze. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” she grumbled.

Communicating so silently, they all got up and followed the groups of children and the SUVs. The sleek black vehicles stopped in front of the church. Kids were crowding together and the five of them pushed forward towards the front. 

Lauren narrowed her eyes when Louis Tomlinson exited the first vehicle. His blue-gray eyes met his green eyes and she felt satisfied when his eyes widened slightly. But his expression of shock quickly morphed into a smirk. Perrie Edwards and Zayn Malik were with them and in the last vehicle, Troye Sivan and a few other of Louis’s minions exited the vehicle. There was no sign of Lucy or Keana unfortunately.

“Hello Perdido Beach,” Louis greeted in his sickly sweet voice. “I am Louis Tomlinson, and we, come from Coates Academy.”

A few murmurs were heard in the crowd. Louis held his hand up as to silence them.

“I know what you’re thinking, but I promise we come in peace.” Lauren knew that was complete bullshit. “Now before we begin, I’d like the following people to come forward: Justin Bieber, Ashley Frangipane, Ariana Grande, Lauren Jauregui, and Normani Kordei.”

Lauren and Normani looked at each other tentatively before stepping forward to the front of the ground. Ariana, Justin, and Ashley followed suit. None of them seemed pleased to be subjected to what was going on.

“I understand I may be the last person you wish to see right now but I want to offer my apologies.”

“What!?” Lauren, Normani, and Ashley asked at the exact same time.

“I believe we got off on the wrong foot in the cafeteria. How I reacted was very uncharacteristic of me, and I believe I should have given you guys the option to leave if you wished.” Louis’s smile was forced as he outstretched his hand. “Can we move past this? I believe we can be beneficial to each other’s causes.”

Lauren knew if she said no that the town would find her cruel and a true rebellious Coates kid but she didn’t want to work with Louis at all. So she took his hand and shook it, also forcing her smile. “We accept.” She pulled him closer to her and leaned to whisper in his ear. “Just remember who you’re messing with. You may convince Perdido Beach with your lies, but we know the truth.” She turned Louis’s head to look at him straight in the eye, the familiar warmth and anger filling her once more. “If you hurt any of my friends, you will regret coming to Perdido Beach and I will make you pay.”

Louis gulped. “Threatening me isn’t wise Jauregui,” he said in a daze.

“Nor is threatening my friends and I.” She whispered with a sickly sweet grin that mimicked Louis’s. “You will leave them alone, you can manipulate anyone else in this damn town but if you hurt them, or any of my Perdido Beach friends -- you’ll know who they are -- I’ll end your life.” He nodded once more and stepped back, Lauren stepped back as well with a smirk. Normani gave her a confused look which she returned with one that said ‘I’ll tell you later.”

“Moving on,” Louis spoke up once again. “I’m sure you all know that a strange phenomenon has hit us. There’s a barrier of some sorts and all of the adults have disappeared.”

“We call it the FAYZ,” a familiar voice called loudly from the back. Lauren recognized it as Niall, the blonde guy from the highway.

“The what?” Perrie asked for clarification.

“F-A-Y-Z. Fallout Alley Youth Zone.”

Louis smiled. “Clever, what’s your name?”

“Niall Horan. I’m the Captain’s number one guy, Captain Liam.”

“Well I hope you and Captain Liam will sit down with us and discuss plans for the future.” Louis sent Niall a satisfied smile and then turned back to the crowd. “Now I’m going to need about a dozen people to come with us and make those plans for the future. It’ll be me, Perrie, Zayn, and Troye. As well as our beloved other friends from Coates, Justin, Ariana, Ashley, Normani, and Lauren.” Lauren sighed. Louis seemed to be keeping his word by inviting her and her friends to this meeting. “Anyone else besides Niall and Liam?”

“Dinah Jane Hansen put out a fire,” a girl spoke up eagerly.

“Yeah, Dinah’s a hero!” A boy called in agreement.

Louis turned in the direction of the crowd parting, where Dinah was pushing forward with Camila and Ally clutching her hands suddenly, both of them with confused expressions. “Cool, I’m your hero, whatever. But I’m not going in without Mila or Ally. I don’t trust you shady Coates kids.”

He nodded slowly. “I hope I can change your mind. But you’re welcome to bring your friends.” Lauren’s gazed moved to Camila’s. She automatically felt guilty, seeing the tired bags under her eyes. But she didn’t blame her, Lauren was tired too, but she didn’t have a little sister that according to Normani was a total freak.

A few more names that people suggested were called. One included Bea Miller, who was taking care of all the babies and toddlers at the daycare, another two were Harry Styles and Jade Thirlwall that helped out immensely the past two days, but Lauren didn’t care enough to learn the names of the others. Before they walked in Perrie outstretched her hand and forced Lauren and her friends to shake her hand. That was code for her reading their powers. Perrie’s ability was to read other people’s powers, almost like a barcode system. The lowest was one bar while the highest was four bars and the only person with four bars was Louis. Ashley, Normani, Ariana, and Lauren all had three bars which seemed to worry Perrie, as her eyes widened, but no action would take action against them. Lauren never made empty threats.

The Perdido Beach kids were sat in the front pews of the church while Louis and his posse stood up on the stage near the podium. Lauren and her friends stood off to the side, not taking the stage with Louis. They didn’t exactly fit in with the Perdido Beach kids, even if they knew they were staying at Clifftop - their preppy clothes looked unnatural to Perdido Beach’s beach bum style.

“We need a plan, a good system,” Louis argued. “I understand Captain Liam is probably doing a decent job, but we need people who are smart, people who can actually plan things and keep note of our food and water supply.”

“I think Liam’s doing a great job with that,” Niall called out. “We just don’t want people undermining our authority like Hansen and her little posse.” He shot a glare towards Dinah, Camila, and Ally. 

Dinah rolled her eyes. “You were in the middle of the road, and you wouldn’t move. You better believe I’d run you over with a van if I was given the perfect opportunity.” A chorus of laughter erupted through the room and Ashley muttered something in Lauren’s ear that sounded like “that’s my girl.” That caused her to roll her eyes at her friend.

Louis clapped his hands together. “Settle down!” he yelled, the church silenced suddenly. He smiled pleasingly. “I think Captain Liam could use some help, don’t you, what was it...Neil? With the combined forces of Coates Academy and Perdido Beach, we can build a better society. When the barrier is lifted and we’re reunited with our parents, they can see how responsible we are as kids and teenagers.”

Lauren heard Niall sigh loudly from the sidelines. “It’s  _ Niall _ . But yeah, I get what you’re saying. Please enlighten us, posh dude from up the hill, what’s your plan?”

“My plan? Well I think we should establish some roles. First being law enforcement, led by my good friend Zayn Malik. He would be the perfect Sheriff. His father was in the police force so it would make the most sense for him to enforce rules, prevent kids from acting disorderly. As for emergencies, it would make sense if Dinah was the fire chief, correct?”

A murmur of agreement filled the room. Lauren could tell by the look on Dinah’s face that she wasn’t too pleased.

“We’ll need someone to take care of the little ones too!” The girl known as Bea Miller spoke up. The girl was tiny, she looked about fifteen years old. Lauren figured that she was about Ally’s height, maybe even shorter. “My brother and I have been working hard for the past twenty four or so hours to take care of the toddlers and babies and we’re almost out of diapers and bottles.”

A warm smile formed on Louis’s lips and he hopped down from the stage and strode over to the blonde. “Bea, is it?” The girl nodded meekly. “I think it’s very kind of you to be the one making sure the little ones are being taken care of. You’re right, the little ones should be our top priority.”

“He’s buttering them up,” Ariana hissed under her breath. “It’s a typical Louis move. He’s good.”

Lauren shot Ariana a warning glance, thinking that Louis could hear them, but he was too enraptured in trying to convince Bea of his trustworthiness. Perrie’s eyes were glued to Lauren and Lauren found herself staring back. Her eyes narrowed slightly. Something was off by the way Louis’s right-hand woman was staring at her, but Lauren figured it wasn’t important for now. She tore her gaze away from Perrie and looked back to the Perdido Beach kids. She noted how most of them seemed to be moved by Louis’s words, with the exception of Niall, Dinah, and Camila. 

In fact, Camila was really out of it. Her eyes were glued to the floor and she was biting down hard on her lips. Lauren had the feeling that she was trying to stop herself from saying something. 

Interrupting Lauren’s thoughts, Niall stood up abruptly along with Captain Liam and a few other of his gang. “Alright smarty pants,” Niall growled. “We agreed to listen to your terms but I don’t like the idea of control being taken from Captain Liam so we can give it to you guys. Go back up the hill!” The gang advanced towards Louis angrily. He just stood there, eyes narrowing and scowl forming. Suddenly there was a rumble that sounded like an earthquake. No one had time to react before the giant cross on the church’s wall was pulled from its hinges and smashed down on top of one of the boys in Liam’s gang. He screamed loudly.

“Oh man, oh man it hurts,” he cried out. The cross was lifted and then thrown to the side. Blood came pouring out of his cut shoulder. Lauren recognized him as one of the guys on the highway that was mostly quiet.

Lauren felt Ashley brush against her and watched as she made her way towards the boy in agony. She knelt down next to him and placed her hands on the gash in his shoulders. “Just wait a few more moments, buddy.” In a matter of seconds, the boy was no longer crying and was practically screaming his gratitude.

Louis, being the asshole that he was, just showed a faux smile. “I suppose we have our town nurse too.”

No one questioned him. Louis had trapped Perdido Beach’s leaders under his spell just like the kids at Coates Academy.

And so it was settled, the roles of the new Perdido Beach had been distributed. Louis Tomlinson called himself mayor while Perrie Edwards was his loyal second-in-command. Zayn Malik was sheriff while so-called Captain Liam was deputy sheriff while his gang were fellow police officers. Dinah Jane Hansen was named fire chief and she begged Normani Kordei and Lauren Jauregui to be fellow firewomen. Ashley Frangipane was placed in charge of the makeshift clinic with Ariana Grande and a girl named Jesy Nelson as nurses. Justin Bieber was placed in charge of the McDonald’s to serve kids hamburgers because he apparently was “amazing at the grill.” Bea Miller continued to take care of the kids in the clinic and Ally Brooke was placed as one of the daycare workers and nurses. Shawn Mendes was told to be the heavy lifting dude, whatever that meant. As for Camila Cabello? She wasn’t assigned a role, but she insisted on helping out at the fire station or the clinic. It was a good system, Lauren could only hope that it would last for a long time.

* * *

 

Perdido Beach - 251 Hours, 32 Minutes

Camila hadn’t had a moment to sit down and take a break ever since she rescued Sofi from the power plant. Her little sister demanded so much attention that if she left the room that her sister was in, she’d scream and Camila would suddenly appear back in that room, almost as if she was teleported back in. She didn’t want to call her little sister a freak because that would make her a freak too -- she could hear people’s thoughts.

Maybe it was because she was scared of being abandoned again, or other reasons but Camila wasn’t able to escape watching her sister. After the meeting at the church, she had to run back to her house in case her sister freaked out again. Dinah tried to follow her and Camila felt terrible for brushing her off. Talking to her best friend was not on top of her list of priorities.

Thank God for Ally and Bea, because they came by an hour after the meeting and offered to have Sofi stay at the daycare during the day and then go back to their house at night.

“It’s no trouble Mila,” Ally told her. “She’ll keep Regina and all of Dinah’s cousins company.”

That was a few hours ago and Camila was bored and lonely. Most kids were huddled inside watching DVDs and playing video games, but she didn’t have those luxuries in her home. After a few moments of debating her options, she decided to walk to the fire station. She convinced herself it was because she needed to update Dinah on Sofi’s current situation.

On a totally selfish level, she wanted to see Lauren again.

The lights were on in the fire station and she could hear pots banging and clanging from the kitchen. Camila brought her hand up and knocked loudly.

“Don’t tell me there’s a fire! It’s too early for this,” Dinah snarled from inside. Camila heard her loud footsteps stomp towards the door. She swung the door open and on the sight of her best friend, her expression changed. “Hey there Chancho, come on in! Normani’s making dinner and Ralph and I were in the middle of a game of Go Fish.”

“Stop calling me Ralph!” Lauren called from the kitchen.

Dinah rolled her eyes and linked her arms with Camila, pulling her further into the station. The fire station’s kitchen was barely a kitchen, just a stove in a small room with a table that had four chairs. Camila’s gaze was immediately on Lauren’s and the green-eyed girl looked up expectantly.

“Hey Camz, long time no see.”

Camila smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, I’ve been busy taking care of Sofi.”

Lauren’s eyebrows furrowed. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s with Bea and Ally right now.”

Dinah gasped dramatically. “I invited Ally over for dinner, how is poor Bea going to take care of all those kiddies by herself?” She placed a hand over her chest and let out an annoyed sigh, pulling out the chair next to Lauren and taking a seat next to her. “Nice one Walz, you’re gonna break Momma Bea and it hasn’t been a full day under our new dictatorship.”

A loud clang came from the stove. “Stupid fucking Tomlinson,” Normani hissed under her breath. “He had no right to threaten kids like that! The blonde guy looked like an idiot but dropping a cross on him? That’s fucked up.” Normani turned around to face the three of them. Camila had never seen Normani this angry. She was already aware that Louis wasn’t trustworthy based of her and Lauren’s reaction to him during the trip to the power plant and when they arrived at Perdido Beach earlier that day.

“He’s power hungry, he’s manipulative, he’s evil, what he did to Lucy and Keana is unforgivable--”

“Take a chill pill Mani,” Lauren reprimanded her. “I’m a strong believer in karma. Louis will get what’s coming to him.”

Camila sighed and took a seat in the other chair next to Lauren. Her eyes moved to the deck of cards on the table. They were all spread out and some of them had fallen on the floor. She knew Dinah was a crazy card player and tended to throw her hand whenever she lost a round.

“You know as a kid I always wondered what it would be like if adults didn’t exist and we had to take care of ourselves,” Camila said, deciding to change to subject. She felt Lauren’s eyes on her, and she found her cheeks heating up slightly. “I thought it would be so great. I could eat all the ice cream I wanted, school wouldn’t exist, and I could go surfing all day if I wanted.” She laughed softly, shaking her head as she leaned back into the chair. “It’s funny, a thought becomes a reality and I can’t even go surfing.”

Lauren gave her a sweet smile. “I used to surf back in Santa Barbara.”

“You’re from Santa Barbara?” Camila asked with a raised brow. 

Lauren nodded her head with a small shrug. “Yeah, it’s a nice town. A lot bigger this place.”

Dinah snorted. “And a lot less shitty than  _ Perdildo  _ Beach.”

That caused Lauren to giggle cutely. Or at least, Camila found her giggle to be adorable. A lot of things Lauren did, Camila found adorable.

“Yeah I mean you guys don’t have an awesome taco restaurant like La Super-Rica.”

“Getting tacos, checking out hotties, uh-oh,” Normani sang as she dumped the pasta into the now boiling pot. 

Lauren groaned.

“What? It’s a good song.” Normani shrugged before returning back to making dinner. Lauren stuck her tongue out at her before looking back at Camila. Normani and Lauren’s dynamic was interesting, almost as interesting as hers and Dinah’s. On second thought, no friendship could beat hers and Dinah’s, they were the quintessence of best friendships.

The four of them spent the next twenty minutes chatting and telling hilarious stories. Dinah was all too excited to tell Lauren about the first time she got Camila drunk, at a wee age of fourteen. Camila was blushing the entire time, but somehow during that exchange Lauren’s hand ended up on her thigh causing Camila’s heart to explode. It didn’t help when Lauren started rubbing it during the transition to another story of the first time Dinah tried to go surfing and fell flat on her ass.

And then Lauren’s hand started tracing patterns on her thigh causing Camila’s breath to hitch. She sent her a glare only to find Lauren looking at Dinah intently. She had no idea what caused her to react so negatively, she wanted Lauren’s attention, right? But she was sixteen, taking care of her anxious sister, and not at all ready to be in any sort of relationship or have any attraction, let alone towards the beautiful Lauren Jauregui.

Ally Brooke was a savior. As soon as she skipped into the kitchen, Camila had the excuse to push Lauren’s wandering hand away. She heard her whine “Camz…” under her breath but she chose to ignore it, only sending Lauren an annoyed look. She shrugged her shoulders.

Normani was deemed the queen of fettuccini alfredo, because even though Camila hated the canned cheese sauce she immediately found that Normani could easily make it taste a thousand times better with a bit of butter. Camila was moaning after the first few bites, causing Ally, who was sat on Dinah’s lap, to let out several uncomfortable giggles.

“Mila sweetie, I don’t think that’s how you want to eat your pasta, sounding like um...you know…” Ally trailed off.

“Ally,” Camila whined at her close friend. “I always sound like a dying whale when I’m eating good food.”

Normani spat her water out. Lauren burst out into one of those cute laughing fits.

“Don’t spit water everywhere ya nasty,” Dinah growled at Normani.

“Does Camila always make comments like that? Because holy shit…”

“Actually she does.” Dinah smirked. Camila rolled her eyes at her best friend. “You think  _ I  _ have no filter, then you clearly haven’t met Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao.”

Camila groaned, running a hand through her brown tresses as she shot her a glare.

Lauren’s laughter died down. “Guys, leave Camz alone, Normani’s cooking is guaranteed to make anyone a moaning mess.” Camila started blushing once again.

“Y’all are so dirty,” Ally pointed out.

“Sweet church girl, we know you’ve probably been getting it on with someone out there. Where did you run off to at Liam Payne, sorry, Captain Liam’s party a few weeks ago, hm?” Dinah questioned.

Ally only blushed and returned back to her half-eaten plate of fettuccini alfredo.

The smirk on Camila’s best friend’s features couldn’t be contained. “That’s what I thought Smallz.”

Camila narrowed her eyes at Dinah. “You are one to talk. Sneaking off with Ashley at that same party--”

Normani dropped her fork suddenly, causing everyone to look at her. Camila noticed the pained expression on her face. Come to think of it, Camila had never seen her upset, only angry and amused. She must have had a great ability to hide her emotions. But when it came to her abilities, no thoughts were left unheard of and she felt terrible once she heard Normani’s.

_ “It’s just a stupid crush,”  _ Normani thought.

Camila wanted to say something, but she didn’t want to give her any reason to not trust her. Thoughts were supposed to be private. And her abilities felt much more of a curse rather than a blessing. Some things that she heard in people’s minds that day were much better left off unsaid.

“You good, Mani?” Lauren asked, placing a hand on top of Normani’s shaking ones.

Normani smiled. Camila could tell it was forced. “Never been better.”

“If you got too shook by your own cooking, I can’t relate,” Dinah joked, sending a Normani a wink. Camila heard Normani’s breath hitch. “I almost burnt down Mila’s house trying to make cereal.”

Camila rolled her eyes. “My mother almost murdered you on the spot.” 

The five of them burst out laughing, Normani’s weird spasm left forgotten as Dinah went into another story about her cooking adventures. After dinner, Ally suggested that they have dessert, apparently the firemen of Perdido Beach disagreed. Camila found a half eaten bag of chocolate chip cookies that only tasted half decent if they heated it up in the microwave.

“We should go raid a house,” Dinah suggested.

“Or we could suck it up and eat our cookies,” Ally replied with a glare. “I don’t want a cross falling on someone’s shoulder again because we’re out raiding houses.”

Dinah shrugged her shoulders and took a bite of her hard as rock cookie. “You’re no fun Smallz.”

“Guys,” Lauren spoke up apprehensively. “I just had a thought. What happens to the people that turn eighteen in the FAYZ? Like if all the adults disappear, do they disappear too once they’re considered an adult?”

Camila knew Lauren was right. There was no telling what exactly happened to people once they turned eighteen. Maybe there’s a way out of it, like once the disappearance happened once it can’t happen again to anyone else.

“My birthday is in May,” Normani remarked. “So I don’t have to worry about it for another seven months.”

“That is, if we survive to seven months,” Camila said under her breath.

“Mine’s in June,” Lauren continued. “That’s another eight months from now, but like, what happens then?” Her brows furrowed. “Maybe I’ll see my parents again.”

“My birthday is in ten days,” Ally added excitedly. Camila didn’t miss how Ally’s jovial expression turned to a look of horror. Her lips curved into a frown and she slumped back into her chair. “My birthday is in ten days,” she repeated.

“The big eighteen, how exciting is that? You’re gonna be a legal adult, we can throw a big party and everything--”

“Shut up, Dinah!” Camila scowled. “Weren’t you paying attention? Ally’s going to be eighteen in ten days.”

Dinah’s brows furrowed in confusion.

Camila sighed exasperatedly and opened her mouth to explain. Lauren beat her to it.

“When Ally turns eighteen, there’s a chance that she’ll  _ poof _ as well.”

No one spoke for another few moments. Lauren looked in deep thought, but her thoughts were moving too quickly for Camila to pick out what was going on in her head.

Ally whimpered. “This could be the end for me.”

Camila bit down on her lip. “Ally…”

“Instead of turning eighteen and spending it with the people I care about, I’m going to disappear. What even happens when you disappear? There’s gotta be a way to stop it. I don’t, I don’t want to go…”

Lauren leaned over and grabbed Ally’s hand. “Hey, look at me.” Camila noticed that glint in Lauren’s eyes, the same glint Lauren got when she was about to use her totally awesome persuasion ability. “We’re going to figure this out, okay? We won’t let you disappear. We’ll tie you to a pole or something or weigh you down with a bunch of bricks so you can’t disappear.”

Normani nodded her head. “We’ll force our great Mayor Louis to help us too. Because we can’t just lose one of our daycare workers suddenly, right? Bea will throw a fit.”

“Hey, doesn’t Tori Kelly turn eighteen soon?” Dinah asked.

“In like a few days, yeah,” Camila replied.

Dinah sighed agitatedly, running a hand through her blonde tresses. “I was going to throw her a great party too.”

Camila tilted her head to the side. “Cheechee, you’re making it sound like she’s dying. For all we know, she could, like,  _ not  _ be poofing at all and we’re overreacting.”

“We have no other evidence proving otherwise,” Normani stated a-matter-of-factly.

Ally let out another whimper. Lauren quickly reacted by wrapping her arms around Camila’s close friend and pulling her close to her. She rubbed her back softly and whispered something in Ally’s ear that caused her to visibly relax.

It was getting late and Ally needed to get back to the daycare. Dinah volunteered to walk her back and Normani put herself on “watch duty” where she basically sat at the door and waited until some kid ran up and screamed fire.

“You coming Walz?” Dinah asked, arms wrapped around Ally in a warm embrace.

“I think I’ll stay here for the night,” Camila replied with a soft smile.

Dinah’s eyebrow raised expectantly. “Oh?” Realization hit her friend like a ton of bricks, “ _ Oh _ .” Camila’s cheeks heated up and nodded. Dinah’s lips curved into a wide smirk and she swaggered out the door, dragging a rather dazed Ally behind her.

“Make sure to use protection!”

“Shut up Dinah!” Camila called after her best friend, slamming the fire station door behind them.

She heard Normani cackle from the kitchen.

Camila made her way towards the stairs to the second floor. As she passed Normani, she gave her a small smile and wave. Normani returned her smile but Camila was only paying attention to the look of heartbreak in her eyes. From a young age, Camila learned that asking too many questions led to disaster. Normani would tell her if she was upset if she wanted to.

She could hear Lauren humming from behind a closed door as she reached the top of the stairs. Camila’s heart fluttered and she moved to open the door, she was met with a shirtless Lauren Jauregui. Okay, she wasn’t totally shirtless, but it was totally a crime for Lauren to strut around in a black sports bra. Her mouth felt dry. “Oh, god, I’m so sorry--”

Lauren just stood there with a wide smile. “Camz, it’s no big deal. We’re both girls right?”

Camila turned to look away from Lauren. This wasn’t a drill because she was pretty sure she just saw the hottest body ever. Lauren had abs for crying out loud! 

“Camz,” Lauren tried again.

“If I wasn’t gay yesterday…” Camila burst out. Her eyes widened as she covered her mouth. Lauren burst out laughing which caused her to blush profusely. 

Camila heard her take a step towards her.

Lauren’s laughter died down and she carefully cupped Camila’s chin. Camila’s knees felt weak. Their gaze met. Camila felt the similar feeling she felt at Clifftop, the same connection and desire to be near her. It was a blessing that Lauren couldn’t hear her thoughts. They only knew each other for what, like two days? But Camila wanted to wrap her arms around Lauren and melt into her.

Camila forced herself to look away from Lauren. A wide smile formed on Lauren’s lips. “Do you wanna stay the night?”

“I already said I was.” Camila giggled and she could have sworn she saw Lauren swoon right then and there.

“I know, but I meant in my bed.”

Camila’s eyes widened.

“No, not like that! I wanna cuddle with you. If that’s okay with you, of course, I know I sound like a pervert,” Lauren rambled nervously, bringing a hand up to run a hand through her hair.

Camila rolled her eyes and grabbed the hand that was cupping her own cheek. “Sure thing Lo.” She tugged her towards one of the bunkbeds.

That night, Camila had arguably the best sleep that she ever had, wrapped up in Lauren’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to post this story on wattpad too. You can find it and follow me at: https://www.wattpad.com/user/queenoftheclouds_
> 
> I'm already in the drafting process of another work too, so stay tuned for what's to come!


	5. NEW RULES

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i decided to update early cause i'm in a good mood but PLEASE pay attention to the following:
> 
> listen fam, this is the chapter where things start to get violent, so reader discretion is advised. there is a death in this chapter and a lot of other violent, offensive, and messed up things happening in the next few so just as a precaution i'll be updating the warnings.

Perdido Beach’s Fire Station - 171 Hours, 12 Minutes

Five days had passed since all of the adults had disappeared from Perdido Beach.

Three days had passed since Louis and his posse had arrived into town and basically took over.

In that time there was a total of one fire since Dinah had extinguished the apartment building on the first day of the FAYZ. A kid came into the fire station while Lauren, Normani, and Dinah were playing a game of Scrabble, Lauren was actually winning the game and Dinah had attempted to argue that fergalicious was an actual word twice before they were interrupted. The three of them half-carried, half-dragged a hose and hydrant wrench to the scene. The fire wasn’t actually a fire, but instead a burnt out microwave because the kid’s brother tried to microwave a can.

The only upside to the emergency debacle was that the three of them got to practice hooking up a hose so they could get onto the scene easier. Dinah suggested breaking the fire hydrant so she could use her “superpowers.” Normani reminded her that they still hadn’t fixed the spraying fire hydrant in the Town Plaza and all of the town’s water was probably being wasted because of Dinah’s quick thinking.

Most days Lauren and her friends sat around the kitchen table playing board and card games.

“One queen, right herre,” Dinah drawled, slamming her card face down on the table and then flipping her hair dramatically.

“There’s only one queen,” Lauren mumbled, “and that’s Madonna, bitch.” No one heard her though.

Normani looked at her cards and shook her head. “I’m calling B.S. right now.”

With a grin, Dinah flipped over her card. “I got you fool!” She slammed her fist on the table and stomped her foot. “Take the pile, take the pile,” she chanted.

Lauren glanced over at the cards. She snorted and chuckled quietly. “Dinah, that’s a king of spades.” Dinah’s head whipped around so fast, Lauren could have sworn she got whiplash.

“What!? No! I put down a queen of spades.” Dinah snatched the card and looked at it. Her eyes widened in shock. And in a very typical Dinah fashion, she kicked the table legs, causing the card pile to shift around.

Normani held the table steady. “You didn’t, idiot. Now take the cards and own up to your mistakes.”

Dinah turned to Lauren expectantly. She had to laugh, Dinah looked like a lost and confused puppy. She learned that she had a short attention span and tended to be very forgetful.

“I mean technically Mani is right, you did lie,” Lauren replied with a shrug.

“Not on purpose!”

“We’re just going off of your rules,” Normani added. “You were the one that got mad when Lauren did the exact same thing a few rounds ago.”

That shut Dinah up and she sighed in defeat as she took the huge pile and added it to her hand. She was usually the one to call B.S. the most in previous rounds, but Lauren figured Dinah had a good hand this round, that’s why the pile had been so large. 

Lauren admittedly had a terrible hand, but she did a great job lying during this round. 

“Three kings,” Lauren said as she lightly placed her cards down.

No one second guessed her as Normani or Dinah didn’t consider that she was lying. Normani placed down an ace without second thought.

“Peanut Butter,” Lauren called out, leaning back into her chair. “And I’m out, I’m so good at this game.”

Dinah lost it right then and there. She flipped the table to the side and started screaming curse words.

“We can never have fun playing these games cause Lauser is too good at it!” Dinah screamed in anger.

Just then they heard a loud cry coming from below. Dinah stopped in her actions and frowned. Normani stood up with a wary look on her face. Lauren heard the cry once again, much louder than before.

“I’mma go check it out,” Dinah said quietly. Lauren watched as she made her way to the fire pole and descended below. Lauren followed after her. She didn’t trust the possible causes of a loud cry. The past three days Zayn Malik and his police terrorized the kids. Some believed that it was a good thing that rules were being enforced, others questioned Zayn’s motives.

Lauren’s eyes widened at the sight in front of her. A small twelve year old girl was crawling up the driveway and Dinah already was rushing towards her. Lauren moved to help. There was a big red gash in the girl’s temple, blood covered her face, and she was shaking uncontrollably.

“Help me,” the girl whispered.

“God, what happened to you, Madison?” Dinah asked as she knelt down next to her.

“They’re trying to get me.”

As if on cue, Liam and two of the kids that Lauren saw on the highway came barreling towards them with aluminum bats.

Lauren’s jaw clenched as she rushed over to the three guys who were clearly bigger than her. “What’s going on here?”

“Out of the way, outcast,” Liam snarled. “I’ll beat you up too.”

“This isn’t your business,” the kid with light brown hair added.

“We’re dealing with something here,” the other kid with red hair said.

Lauren’s eyes narrowed. “What exactly were you dealing with?”

Liam huffed. “She was breaking the rules.”

Normani came up from behind Lauren. Lauren saw the malice in her eyes and she personally was scared for what was to come. “You hit a girl, man?” Normani shouted. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Liam took a step forward, swinging his bat menacingly, eyeing Lauren’s head like it was a baseball waiting to be hit for a home run. “Get out of my way, Coates girl.”

Lauren didn’t move, only stared at Liam. The warmth filled her and she opened her mouth to say something but she was cut off when a brute force hit her in the head. Everything in her view was blurry. She gasped and stumbled forward, head throbbing in pain.

She couldn’t register what was going on. But she did hear Normani screaming in pure anger while Dinah was calling Normani’s name frantically. Lauren fell to the ground, too dizzy to stand any longer. Liam must have hit her on the head hard.

“Nobody move!” A familiar, harsh voice called. The hairs on the back of Lauren’s neck stood up. Zayn Malik had arrived. Normani let out a cry and Lauren heard several more thuds.

“I said, nobody move!” Zayn shouted. A loud crack was heard. Liam was now howling in pain.

More thuds were heard. Lauren admittedly felt satisfied to hear Liam cry in pain. He deserved it.

“Get up, Jauregui.” A strong hand gripped her shoulder. She felt nauseous as she felt Zayn shake her roughly. “I said, fucking get up, Jauregui!”

“Leave her alone! Can’t you see that she’s hurt? There’s blood coming out the side of her head!”

“Shut up, Kordei,” Zayn growled as he yanked Lauren back up onto her feet. Lauren’s mouth parted as she desperately tried to find words or get her bearings. She gripped onto something to balance herself, that happened to be Zayn’s shoulders, and he abruptly shoved her off of him which caused her to stumble backwards and slump against the fire station’s wall.

Lauren’s vision was still impaired but she could tell that Zayn just turned to Dinah. “Tell me what’s going on, Miss Fire Chief.”

“Liam hit her,” Dinah replied uneasily. “I saw Madison crawling up here and ask for help.”

Zayn laughed mirthlessly. “So?”

“So, I wasn’t going to let it happen again,” Lauren spat, finally finding her voice. Zayn glared at her.

“Don’t make me make that gash on your head permanent.”

Lauren bit down hard on her lip and bowed her head. She knew that Zayn could beat her up easily. No one dared to cross him at Coates Academy after they found out why he went to the school in the first place. It brought chills to her spine to even think about it.

Zayn let out an annoyed sigh and turned to one of Liam’s minions. “You, explain what’s going on.”

“That girl.” The red haired boy pointed to the girl that Dinah was comforting. “She was using some sort of power.”

“Yeah, she was doing some sort of magic trick!” The other one of Liam’s minions added.

Liam got back up on his feet, wincing slightly He looked at Zayn with some apprehension, but the unmistaken burn of hatred filled his features. “I told her to stop.”

Zayn crossed his arms over his chest. A grin formed on his lips, but Lauren knew it did not reflect happiness, only pure evil. Lauren wondered if it was even possible for Zayn to be truly happy. Maybe when he kicked a puppy or got a hold of a gun.

“Liam is deputy sheriff. So when he says stop, then that person better know damn well to stop.”

“You don’t have the right to beat people up,” Dinah spoke up, narrowing her eyes at Zayn.

He shrugged his shoulders indifferently. “Someone’s gotta make sure people listen to the rules.”

Lauren’s eyes widened slightly. “There are rules against using magic tricks?” That was odd. Louis knew about powers and even knew that he was putting Normani, Ariana, Ashley, and her, all people who openly stated they had powers, in positions of power.

Zayn nodded, pulling a crumpled piece of paper out and handing it to Lauren. “There you go, now you know the rules. If there’s no magic being done here then my work here is done.”

Zayn, Liam, and his posse stalked off, leaving Dinah, Normani, Lauren, and the girl alone in the driveway.

Lauren felt her head throb and she groaned in pain. “Fuck, we gotta get to Ashley.” Her gaze moved to Normani, whose nose was crooked. Lauren’s eyes widened as she looked to her friend for answers. “Mani, what happened?”

Dinah let out a low chuckle that was uncharacteristic to her personality. “Your best friend got hella pissed. She jumped on Liam and tried to beat the shit out of him.”

A wide smile appeared on her lips and she muttered her gratitude to her friend. Normani had saved her ass too many times the past five days. Without her, Lauren would be dead. She didn’t deserve a friend like her.

“In all seriousness, is the girl okay?” Lauren asked.

“I’m fine,” Madison slurred. Dinah muttered something incoherent under her breath and stood up onto her feet. She looked between Normani and Lauren apprehensively. Lauren’s eyebrows raised expectantly. It was strange to see loud, obnoxious, and brash Dinah Jane Hansen to be so silent. It was like the world turned upside down. The world was already upside down, but it probably just rotated another ninety degrees.

“Zayn beat her up because she had powers,” Dinah stated. Neither Normani or Lauren responded, just stared at her in confusion. “And if that’s a rule then technically we’re all breaking it.”

“Technically Normani and I aren’t, Louis already knows about us,” Lauren pointed out.

Her new friend’s forehead creased. “But he doesn’t know about me, or Camila, or Shawn, or Harry and Jade--”

“Hold up, what?” Normani interrupted in disbelief. “I had my suspicions about Shawn. But when did curly haired boy and his sidekick get involved?”

“I overheard Perrie say that Jade has one before the second town hall meeting. And I caught Harry in the act of shooting green light out of his hand,” Dinah explained.

“Your point is?”

Dinah bit down on her lip. “What if they find out about me? I don’t want to be beaten to a pulp like Madison.”

Lauren took a step forward. As much as her head throbbed and the need to throw up overwhelmed her, she needed to comfort her. “DJ, don’t worry, we have your back. Louis won’t try anything.”

Her friend’s eyes narrowed. “Louis may be scared of you, but Zayn isn’t.” Lauren knew Dinah was right, but she refused to admit it. She didn’t have the heart to allow herself to use her persuasion ability against her. She bowed her head in defeat.

“Alright, let’s go to the clinic and get her patched up so I can take a nice long nap,” Normani growled.

* * *

 

Perdido Beach - 169 Hours, 18 Minutes

“Rule number one, Louis is the mayor of Perdido Beach and the whole area known as the FAYZ,” Ariana read to the small group of volunteers that sat around her. “Wow, doesn’t think much of himself, does he?”

Camila couldn’t help but giggle.

“Number two, Zayn is appointed sheriff and has the power to enforce the rules. Number three, Dinah is fire chief and responsible for responding to emergencies.”

Jesy Nelson snorted. “Look at him, all he does is talk about the pish posh Coates Academy kids. They have more power than we do. They’re all heartless criminals, why did we agree to get their help?”

Camila immediately took that as an attack against Lauren. She whipped her head around to glare at Jesy. “Not all of them are bad!”

“Yeah, like me,” Ariana added with little enthusiasm. “Number four, no one may enter any store and remove anything without the permission of the mayor or the sheriff. Number five, all must help out Madame Bea at the daycare and provide her with whatever she needs and asks for.”

“I think those rules are pretty fair,” Ally spoke from Camila’s right. “I don’t see anything wrong with them.”

Ariana shrugged her shoulders indifferently. “Six: we all have to help out in the search and clearing of homes. Seven: if any bad behavior occurs, all must report it to Zayn. Eight: people will not perform magic tricks or any other action that causes fear or worry.”

Camila and Ariana’s eyes met. To the other people in the room, the eighth rule wouldn’t apply to them, but both of them could perform so-called magic tricks that caused fear or worry. Ariana explained to her a few days ago that Louis knew about the Coates Academy kids’ powers, but not anyone of Perdido Beach.

“Number nine, we are in a state of emergency. During the crisis no one should criticize, hinder, or ridicule any of the people performing their official duties,” Ariana continued reading with a shaky voice. “Number ten, the sheriff may decide that the rules above are insufficient to cover some emergency situations. In those cases, the sheriff may formulate whatever rules needed to keep the people safe.”

Camila heard Jesy’s thoughts run wild with curse words and threats against the Coates Academy kids. She only listened for Lauren’s name, because the last thing she wanted was for Lauren to get blamed for this when she did nothing wrong.

Just then the door burst open. Camila turned her head to see Ashley, looking as stressed as ever. “I just got the news, where’s the girl with the messed up head?”

Ariana pointed to one of the closed doors. “Over there, Dinah’s in there with her.”

“And Normani and Lauren?”

Camila’s ears perked up at the mention of the green-eyed beauty. “They insisted that someone be back at the station while Dinah’s with Madison. Lauren’s head and Normani’s nose are pretty messed up, they said that they’d be back if Lauren gets worse,” Ariana answered for her.

Ashley let out an agitated sigh. “Lauren’s too stubborn for her own good.”

Ariana let out a soft laugh. “You don’t say, she looked so delirious, Mani had to drag her out the door.”

Camila’s jaw clenched. “And you just let her?” she asked incredulously. Her eyes narrowed and she stood up out of her chair abruptly. “Ari, Lauren was hurt! You should have insisted that she stay here!”

“Mila,” Ariana spoke gently. “There’s no getting Lauren to listen to you. She doesn’t listen to anyone. Believe me, I tried.”

Camila shook her head. “She would’ve listened to me.”

Ashley and Ariana both looked at each other. Ariana shrugged her shoulders and Camila heard Ashley’s thoughts. She was proud to know that  _ Jauregui was wrapped around her little finger. _

The clinic’s door burst open again. In came Normani half dragging and half carrying Lauren in.

“Mani, ‘m fine,” Lauren moaned into Normani’s ear. 

Lauren’s best friend shook her head. “Like hell, you can’t even stand up straight.”

Camila rushed over to Lauren without a second thought. She quickly wrapped an arm around Lauren’s waist to help steady her. She felt Lauren stiffen at the new contact but she relaxed when she noticed her. Camila found her cheeks heating up when Lauren started nuzzling her neck.

“Camzi,” she mumbled. “Tell Mani ‘m fine.”

Camila shook her head. “Look at you idiot, you can hardly stand. Why didn’t you ask for help initially?”

“I’m fine!” Lauren insisted. Normani and Camila led her further into the room and onto one of the couches that pulled out into a bed. They gently set her down and Lauren immediately slumped back against the pillows.

Camila took a seat in the space near Lauren and grabbed her hand. She intertwined their fingers, noticing no reaction from her, but she figured it was because Lauren was too out of it. “What happened to her?”

“She got in a fight,” Normani replied with a shrug. “Liam was beating some girl up and she got in the way. So he hit her right on the head.”

She pursed her lips, looking down at Lauren. “What about you, Mani?” She didn’t bother looking at Normani because she had a feeling her expression would not reflect anything good.

“I tackled Liam to the ground afterwards. He broke my nose.”

“Was this your first fight?”  
Normani chuckled quietly. “No, and it certainly wasn’t Lauren’s first fight either.”

Before Camila could comment, Ashley made her way towards them. “Gosh, look at you two,” she mumbled quietly. The blue haired girl gestured for Camila to move out of the way. Ashley leant over and put her hands on Lauren’s temple. The green light emitting from Ashley’s fingers began to work immediately and Camila watched as Lauren’s blood began to dry up and the gash in her head started to close up. In seconds, she was fixed and Lauren was looking up at her lazily. Ashley moved over to Normani and pinched the bridge of her nose. Normani winced, but soon relaxed when her nose moved back into place and her blood began to dry up.

“You’re magic with your hands Ashley,” Lauren mumbled dazily.

Ashley grinned widely, “so I’ve been told.” She winked which caused Camila to feel a pang of jealousy. She wondered if Lauren and Ashley had history together, but that was a question for another day.

Lauren squeezed Camila’s hand, which scared her a bit. She almost forgot that she was holding her hand in the first place. Looking over her shoulder, she found Lauren smiling at her sweetly and Camila couldn’t just not smile back at her.

Dinah entered the room with a sullen expression on her features. “She’s dead.”

Silence. No one said another word. The first casualty of the FAYZ had been confirmed.

“What?” Ashley’s voice cracked.

Dinah’s gaze moved to Ashley and her eyes narrowed. “I said, she’s dead.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Where have you been?”

“I had to run some errands…”

“And what time did you get back?”

Ashley bit down on her lip. “Just a few minutes ago.”

If looks could kill, the look on Camila’s best friend’s face would have slaughtered everyone in a ten mile radius. The Tongan strode forward, fists outstretched. “You could have saved her! But you were wasting time talking to  _ them _ !” Dinah screamed.

Ashley winced, taking several steps back. “I didn’t know her condition! I came as soon as I could, but Lauren and Normani were here--”

“Lauren and Normani,” Dinah interrupted, “were not shaking in fear, muttering incoherent sentences, and seeing visions of her mother telling her to open the fridge!” Dinah grabbed Ashley’s shirt and pulled her towards her. Her teeth were bared as she glared at her current fling. “You have no morals, you bitch! You care more about your Coates Academy friends than anyone else! When you took the role of nurse, you agreed to put the worst injuries first before anyone else’s!”

“I didn’t know! I didn’t know! I thought she’d be a fine for another few minutes before I got to her,” Ashley screamed. “Please Dinah, you have to believe me.”

Dinah didn’t say anything, only stared right Ashley. “You’re going to tell her sister.” She squeezed harder on Ashley’s shirt and pushed her against the back wall. “You’re going to tell her sister that you let her die! You killed her, you heartless bitch!”

“Dinah!” Ally called out pleadingly as she rushed over to her. “Stop this, right now!” Camila forgot that Ariana, Jesy, and her were even in the room with her.

“No, Ally, she killed her!” Dinah slammed her back harshly and Ashley gasped in pain. Camila watched her try to break free, screaming, squirming, and kicking as Dinah held onto her for dear life.

“It wasn’t Ashley’s fault, Dinah! You know it was Liam. He was the one who hit her!” Normani added, standing up and moving over to Ally. Both of them pried Dinah off of Ashley. It was a struggle for sure, but Normani was able to pull Dinah back. Camila winced as Dinah broke out into a sob, burying her head into Normani’s neck and wrapping her arms around her.

Ashley let out a shaky breath. Camila felt Lauren move next to her and soon their hands weren’t touching anymore. Lauren strode over to engulf Ashley in a tight hug.

“What are we going to do?” Ally asked quietly.

Ariana frowned. “The only thing we can do, give her a proper burial.”

Madison Ziegler was buried in the Town Plaza at one o’clock in the morning. Shawn spent hours trying to dig a proper hole and he didn’t ask for help. Everyone just stood there and watched as he dug a little girl’s grave. The attendees included Camila and Sofi, who was picked up from the daycare; the other girls in the clinic: Lauren, Normani, Ashley, Ally, Dinah, Jesy, and Ariana; Justin, who came from the McDonald’s; Madison’s little sister Mackenzie sobbing into Dinah’s shoulder; Bea; Tori Kelly; and Harry and Jade.

No one knew how to conduct a proper burial. So Shawn just plopped her into the manmade hole. It didn’t feel like it gave Madison justice.

“We should tell stories,” Tori suggested, “of how we all remembered her and such.”

Dinah started by telling the story of when she first saw Madison in the dance studio. Harry spoke of how much of a good friend she was to his little sister. Jade noted that Madison was always a very cheerful and hardworking girl. Mackenzie couldn’t say anything without bursting into tears.

Ally said the Lord’s Prayer. Little by little, everyone joined in except for Lauren. She had  a glassy look in her eyes.

They all pitched in and covered the grave up with dirt.

People began to disperse; Bea returned to the daycare with Mackenzie and Tori; Justin went back to his restaurant with Shawn; and Ariana and Jesy returned to the clinic. Only Normani, Ally, Dinah, Lauren, Harry, Jade, and Ashley remained.

Camila heard footsteps. She looked up curiously. In the distance, Liam and Niall were watching. Her heart felt a twinge of pain. They were the reason why someone died today and Camila could never forgive someone for that.

“I wish I was fast enough,” Ashley admitted. “Her blood is on my hands.”

Dinah rolled her eyes. “No shit.”

“Dinah,” Camila reprimanded her with a look of contempt.

“So let me get this straight, Liam murdered Madison, and Zayn let him do it?” Harry asked in disbelief. Everyone nodded their heads slowly. “That’s so messed up.”

“We could at least demand justice from Louis,” Jade mumbled.

Normani laughed mirthlessly. “Are you serious? Have you seen him? He’s going to skin all of you alive.”

“So what do you suggest we do instead?” Dinah questioned.

“You’re asking  _ me _ , one of the outcasts? Oh no, I’m not doing anything to get myself in trouble with Louis, nope.”

“This is rich coming from you guys,” Harry said. “Weren’t you the ones who defied Louis in the first place?”

Lauren’s jaw clenched. “He tried to kill us. We were just trying to save our skin.”

“Listen,” Ashley cut in. “I know what you guys want. You want us to be the ones that fight back, defy Louis. But we can’t, we’re not good leaders -- we’re not even good people. If you’re going to defy Louis, go ahead, but I refuse to play that game again.” Ashley stormed off angrily.

“I happen to agree with her,” Normani added. “Laur, you coming?”

Lauren shook her head. Normani shrugged her shoulders and stalked off.

Harry sighed. “Well, that went amazingly. We’ll need to talk, Lauren.”

Lauren shrugged her shoulders indifferently. “Actually, I don’t totally agree with you. I’m just sticking around because I want to hang around Camz.”

Camila’s cheeks heated up and she looked away from Lauren in embarrassment.

Harry sighed again and walked off with Jade.

It was just them, Dinah, and Ally in the square now. None of them said anything, just stared at the newly made grave.

“I’m gonna go back to the station, I’m tired as fuck.” Dinah yawned.

Ally nodded her head. “Same.”

With the two of them leaving, it was just Lauren, Sofi, and her now. Sofi looked out of it and beyond tired to comprehend anything. Camila decided to leave her alone and let her stare into space.

“You know,” Camila spoke slowly. “I heard a saying once. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Lauren chuckled softly, taking a step closer to Camila. “That sure does apply to Louis Tomlinson.”

A tiny smile played on Camila’s lips. “I think you would be a better leader than he would.” Lauren’s eyebrows rose up suddenly. “You’d treat the kids better than he has. Dinah or Normani could be sheriff instead of Zayn.”

She shook her head at Camila’s suggestion. “I couldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Power will corrupt me. With my abilities, I can basically make others do whatever I want.”

Camila shook her head. “Lo, from the five days of knowing you, I know that won’t happen. You’ve been so good at handling things. You’re smart and mature, plus, you could have easily asked for a higher position of power, but you didn’t.” Lauren blushed at her words, running a hand through her dark tresses. Camila picked up from that action that she was nervous. “And besides,” she breathed, taking a large step closer to her.

“You have me.”

Lauren’s lips curved into a smile and she too, took a step closer to her. “Do I?”

Camila nodded. “Always.” Her gaze moved to Lauren’s lips.

There was just inches between them. The tension between them could be cut by a knife and she knew this was what she wanted in that exact moment. She wanted to kiss Lauren Jauregui right then and there. Her eyes squeezed shut as she saw Lauren lean in. Camila waited expectantly, but their lips never met. Her eyes fluttered open and she gave her a confused look.

“I can’t kiss you with your sister watching.”

Camila let out an annoyed sigh. She stepped back and grabbed Sofi’s shoulders, turning her so she was facing the other direction. Turning back to Lauren, she gave her a toothy grin. “How about now?”

Before Camila could say anything else, Lauren crashed their lips together. Her body quaked at the contact, heart melting at how soft her lips were. This was what she wanted, this was what she needed in life. Lauren was kissing her fiercely like it was their last moments together. Never had she ever kissed someone that made her body feel like she was floating. Camila cupped her cheeks, but let Lauren take control of the kiss. Lips bit, sucked, tugged; her body felt on fire with all these new sensations. 

Eventually Lauren pulled away and the both of them could not break their intense stare. Green eyes and brown eyes never leaving each other for one second. With flushed faces and bruised lips, Camila could get used to seeing Lauren like this.


	6. VICTIM

Perdido Beach - 132 Hours, 46 Minutes

“Has Louis always been like this?” Harry inquired curiously as he knocked on the third house they had for the day. Lauren, Normani, and Harry were search team three.

It had been eight days since all of the adults disappeared from Perdido Beach. The fifth day since Louis took over. And most importantly, the second day since Lauren kissed Camila in front of a grave.

The oldest people of the FAYZ were going around and searching houses. Louis made search teams of ten, one team per block. They were to go inside the houses, turn off all lights and appliances; make lists of anything useful like computers or anything harmful like guns or weapons; they had to note how much food there was; and then give all medicine supplies to Ashley and all diapers and baby supplies to Bea.

Lauren hated to admit that Louis actually had good ideas. Troye installed radios in the town hall, fire station, day care, and the place Zayn used for his police duties.

Harry told Lauren that he went to Louis and demanded action. Louis replied that there was nothing he could do since the girl was breaking the rules and Liam was a sheriff. He called it a tragic accident.

“Yeah, he has,” Normani answered him.

“No one’s home,” Harry grumbled. “Get the hammer.” Lauren grabbed the hammer from the wagon and handed it to Harry. With a few quick swings he broke the lock and pushed in.

The three of them were met with a disgusting smell, it was vile; it made Lauren sick to her stomach. “Jesus, what died in here?”

The joke fell flat when Lauren saw a baby’s pacifier on the ground. She gasped in horror and started shaking.

Normani shook her head violently. “Oh my God, no, I can’t do this. Holy shit.”

Lauren turned to Harry. He looked just as shocked and horrified as Normani and her. None of them seemed willing to go in and check to see if the baby was still alive. The child was clearly dead.

“I say we move on.” Lauren shuddered. “Louis can’t blame us for being freaked out by a dead baby, right?”

“We can’t just ignore this,” Harry insisted, scratching his head furiously.

Normani furrowed her brows. “I don’t know about you man, but I am not going in there to find a baby that’s probably already rotting.”

Harry turned to Lauren expectantly. Meekly, Lauren nodded her head in agreement. He sighed in defeat and grabbed one of the trash bags. Lauren watched as he plugged his nose and stepped inside.

Ten minutes later, Harry emerged dragging a trash bag across the floor. Once he got to the porch, he picked up the trash bag and placed it in the wagon. “Just like taking out the trash,” Harry said quietly.

“With some fucked up contents,” Normani added.

Harry frowned. “Listen, I wanna go check my house. Can you guys take things from here?”

Lauren shrugged her shoulders. “We don’t have much of a choice anyways. Team Laurmani has you covered.” Hearing Normani giggle when she referred to themselves as Laurmani made her smile. At least she could bring some light into this dark and depressing moment.

The pair entered the house. Lauren took note of things while Normani searched through drawers, cupboards, cabinets. This house wasn’t too interesting despite the nasty smell, Lauren insisted that they open some windows. While they worked, Lauren began to think about the kiss that she and Camila shared. It was intense, rushed, but absolutely perfect. Lauren kissed a lot of girls in her lifetime but none of them compared to Camila. She wanted to kiss her again, but unfortunately she hadn’t seen her that often the past few days.

“What’re you thinking about Laur?” Normani pulled her from her thoughts.

Lauren smiled dreamily. “Camila,” she answered dreamily.

Normani snorted. “Girl, you are so whipped.”

Her cheeks heated up in embarrassment. “Woah wait, who said that?”

“It doesn’t need to be said, it’s way too obvious.”

Lauren bit her lip nervously. “Hey Mani, can I go see her now?”

Her best friend burst out laughing. “Yeah, I got it covered from here. Seriously, you are one whipped little puppy. Don’t do anything stupid!”

She stuck her tongue out and practically ran out the door. Lauren found that walking through Perdido Beach was actually very relaxing. Even though the town was empty and the ocean was quiet, she felt at peace with her surroundings. Just as she crossed the Town Plaza, she noticed Bea and a whole bunch of preschoolers parading. It must have been their daily hike. She recognized two people from Coates helping out Bea and in the back was a familiar blonde known as Tori Kelly.

“Hey Lauren,” Tori greeted with a small smile.

“Hi.” She smiled politely at Tori. “Where are you taking the kids?”

“The beach, we’re having a picnic.”

Lauren thought that actually sounded like fun. “Cool, I gotta run, but have fun with the little ones!”

Tori grinned. “Thanks I will. And make sure to wish me a Happy Birthday.”

“Happy Birthday!” Lauren called back to her and then continued on her merry way. Having a birthday in the FAYZ must suck, there were no adult family members so that meant no presents. No birthday cakes, no extravagant parties.

Wait. It was Tori’s _birthday_.

Lauren ran all the way back to where Tori was. “Tori,” she shrieked. “How old are you today?”

“Eighteen, why?”

“Tori…” Lauren’s voice trailed off.

The blonde’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh my God, am I going to disappear?”

Lauren shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t want to die…” she whispered in panic.

Lauren shook her head and grabbed a hold of Tori’s hands. “You won’t, I won’t let you, okay?” Tori nodded her head slowly. But in that moment everything changed, it all felt in slow motion. One moment, Tori was standing there in fear and then she vanished, right in front of Lauren’s eyes, as if she was never there in the first place. The horrific part of it all was that she swore that she saw Tori smile in her very last milliseconds.

She couldn’t stop shaking. Her breathing was heavy and her body felt numb. How could this have happened? Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. Lauren didn’t have the energy to stand anymore, so she sunk to the ground.

And like a guardian angel that came to her rescue, Lauren felt familiar arms wrap around her.

“Camz?” she whispered.

“I’m here Lo,” Camila replied, rubbing her back comfortingly. Lauren shifted so she could fully accept Camila’s embrace. She nuzzled into her neck and sniffled. “What happened?”

“Tori,” she croaked. “Tori poofed. I couldn’t save her.”

Camila didn’t respond, Lauren wondered if that meant that she was mad at her. But when Camila started stroking her hair, she figured that wasn’t the case at all. “It’s not your fault, honey.”

“It is. I should have warned her sooner!”

“Lauren, please,” Camila mumbled.

Lauren sighed dejectedly. “I’m sorry Camz, I just had to deal with a ton of fucked up things in the past hour and I feel like it’s all because of me or my actions.”

“I said it’s not your fault, okay?” Lauren moved her head so she was looking at Camila. She smiled at her sweetly and her insides felt mushy under her gaze. “I don’t have your magical eyes, but I feel like I’m persuading you right now.”

She didn’t respond to Camila, only rolled her eyes, but that didn’t stop a smile from forming on her lips.

“There’s the smile I was looking for,” Camila teased. Lauren scowled in response. She felt like she was being treated like a child and usually she hated any condescending nature directed towards her but this was _Camila_. This was the girl that she kissed willingly and passionately in front of a freaking grave. “Do you want to go back to my place?”

Lauren nodded her head a little too eagerly. “Yes, I do.”

They both stood up and Camila grabbed her hand. Together, they walked down the sidewalk in silence. Lauren learned that Camila lived in a much nicer neighborhood than the houses that she went through earlier that day. There was plenty of flora and a bit of distance between each house. The houses were much bigger too, like mini mansions, except not really. Camila’s dad must have made a lot of money to be able to afford such a nice house. A nuclear engineer must have paid well.

Camila’s little sister, Sofi, was sitting on the porch. She waved excitedly once she saw her sister and Lauren. Lauren watched her wave back tentatively. Camila led her up the stairs of the porch and grabbed her other hand. She let herself be led to the porch bench and tentatively sat down. Camila joined her, not letting go of her hands.

They sat in silence. Lauren watched Sofi play with her Barbie doll. It was a miracle how Sofi had an amazing ability to tune people out. She was envious of that. “Ally has five days,” Camila mumbled quietly. “Not even a week left.”

Lauren didn’t know what to say in response.

“There’s gotta be a way around it,” Camila continued. Their gaze met and Lauren subconsciously allowed herself to lean in a bit. She saw her eyes widen and immediately felt guilty when Camila pulled away a bit.

“If there’s a way out, there would also be a way in,” Lauren said. “Like a gate. Have we checked to see if the dome is consistent over by the national park or in the desert?”

“The only people with cars are the Coates kids and Justin, I think,” Camila answered with a small shrug. “I don’t really want to ask _him_ to drive out there.” Lauren let out a soft laugh.

Silence overcame them once more. Her gaze moved over to Camila, she wasn’t surprised to find her staring back. Lauren was sure she was blushing again and she lightly bit down on her lip.

“I’m not sorry, you know,” she mumbled. Camila’s eyebrow raised upwards. “I mean wrong place, wrong time, but I’m not sorry.”

Camila’s eyes lit up in realization. Lauren nodded her head to confirm her suspicions. The grin that broke out on the girl’s lips could have moved an entire room.

“I’m not sorry either. It wasn’t my first kiss, but I think it was the best kiss I’ve ever had,” she said giddily.

Her eyes narrowed at Camila. “Who was your first kiss?”

“Shawn.”

Lauren didn’t even bother hiding the scowl. “Of fucking course,” she grumbled under her breath and crossed her arms. Camila giggled at her reaction.

“I was totally kidding. You were my first kiss that counted.”

If Lauren wasn’t red before, she sure was now. She averted her gaze. “Wow okay, was I any good at least?”

“Lauren,” Camila urged. Lauren just shrugged her shoulders and smirked. “Yes Lo, you were really good. I wouldn’t mind kissing you again.”

Fuckgirl Lauren was taking an appearance again with her cocky smirk and curved eyebrows. “Everyone does, baby,” she drawled. Camila scowled and surged forward, crashing their lips together. The kiss wasn’t as rough as before, it was soft, but Lauren still felt that it was just as passionate. Deciding to be bold, she reached over and tugged at her hips so that Camila was on her lap.

Camila gasped, grasping onto Lauren’s shoulders for support and deepened the kiss. Lauren hummed, keeping her hands on her waist. The very immature part of her wanted to rest her hands on the very round behind that Camila had. The logical part of her mind told her that it was too soon and she had to do this right. Lauren’s tongue slipped inside of Camila’s mouth.

She grunted, breaking away from Lauren quickly. “We can’t make out in front of my sister,” she hissed.

“You’re no fun.” Lauren pouted. Camila’s eyes narrowed and Lauren took that as a cue to remove her hands from her waist. “Okay, I was kidding! I can’t help it, kissing you is way too addicting.”

“I’m sure you tell all the girls that.”

Lauren laughed and shook her head, placing her hand on Camila’s cheek and caressing it softly. “Only the special ones.” She paused briefly, deciding not to say anything on the fact that Camila was still on her lap. “You had no problem kissing me in the Plaza, what’s the difference now?”

“Shut up,” Camila scoffed. “We kissed at one a.m. and Sofi was hardly awake.”

Lauren nodded slowly. “I’ve been meaning to ask, is there something wrong with Sofi?” When Lauren saw Camila tense up, she regretted asking that. She shrugged it off, trying to play it cool and understanding. “You don’t have to tell me, I was just wondering--”

“Sofi is on the spectrum,” Camila interrupted. “It’s not that severe. She used to have Asperger’s, but the Diagnostic Statistical Manual removed that from the book, but when she got re-diagnosed she was placed on the not-so severe part. I don’t know the correct term for it.”

“Can you tell me what happened in the power plant?”

Lauren saw Camila hesitate. But before she could retract her statement, Camila gave her a knowing look, sensing Lauren’s regret.

“I’m ashamed to think this, but I thought Sofi was a freak. A freak with powers like you, me, Dinah, Normani, and everyone else. How could I even think that about my little sister? But the things that she did in the power plant, they were far from normal. She screamed and the lights flickered, she kept talking about how she made bad things go away,” Camila explained. Her breath hitched, Lauren’s heartbeat increased. She continued caressing her cheek to calm her down. “And afterwards, she wouldn’t calm down, she kept screaming. I tried to leave the room and suddenly I’d appear back in her room as if I never left.”

“Do you think she has as much power as Louis?” Lauren asked tentatively.

Camila sighed, shrugging her shoulders in response. “God, Lo, I don’t know. She’s been keeping me up all night. The only breaks I get is if I take her to the daycare.”

“Camz,” Lauren whispered. “I wish I could have helped you.”

Camila gave her a grateful smile, but Lauren could see the doubt in her eyes. “I don’t think it would have been enough.”

Silence overcame them again. Lauren decided this would be another perfect opportunity to kiss the cutest girl in the FAYZ. She leaned in ever-so slightly, Camila got the message and moved to meet her halfway, but they were interrupted by loud shouting.

“There they are! The lesbians and the freaky girl! Get them!” Niall shouted.

Camila practically jumped off of Lauren. While Lauren moved to shield her. A group of people came marching up the stairs. Two of Liam’s gang members grabbed Sofi; in response, the little girl started screaming. Lauren watched in horror as Camila started screaming and pleading for them to let her go.

Lauren turned her head to find her staring at Zayn Malik. He had a wide grin plastered on him. “Night, night,” he taunted.

Lauren felt a blow to her head and the only thing she could see next was darkness.

* * *

Perdido Beach - 128 Hours, 32 Minutes

Camila wanted to scream. She wanted to curse, cry, kick, yell, anything to damn Perrie and Zayn to hell. They took Lauren. Camila had to watch in horror as Zayn hit Lauren hard on the head and then dumped her unconscious body into a wagon. But keeping Sofi calm was her main priority. She found that Zayn was leading them to the school. Niall and Michael both gripped onto her arms for dear life as they proceeded into the school.

She was ushered into an empty classroom with Sofi. Camila hoped that she would be alone in the classroom. But there Zayn Malik was, leaning against the classroom wall, with the most horrific grin on his face.

Camila took a seat in one of the empty desks. That moment, Perrie walked in. “Ah, good you’re already seated,” the Coates Academy vixen said in a sickly sweet voice.

“I don’t have much of a choice.”

Perrie scowled. “You know, I never really liked you.”

Camila laughed mirthlessly. “Really? I couldn’t tell.”

“Cut the sarcasm, bitch,” Zayn snarled. Camila tensed up at his sharp words.

Perrie smiled cruelly. “Give me your hand.” Camila shook her head in confusion. She was convinced Perrie was crazy. There was no way she’d want to touch her after how cruel she and the Coates Academy kids had been. “Give me your hand, or I’ll make Zayn give me your hand.” Camila shuddered and forced her hand forward. Perrie held it.

“You’re a reader. Lauren kept talking about power bars, you made the system,” Camila stated.

Perrie nodded. “I did. But don’t worry, I can only read powers, not thoughts. Especially not the ones of making out with Lauren Jauregui.”

Camila’s cheeks flushed.

“Oh please, it’s obvious. You’re just like all the other girls at Coates Academy. I mean, what isn’t to like? She’s gorgeous. She’s brave. She’s smart, but not as smart as you. She’s perfect.”

Camila’s jaw clenched. “She’s just a friend,” she lied easily.

“Well, we’ll see how much of a good _friend_ she is. Right now, Louis is in the gym with Lauren. If she doesn’t cooperate with whatever he says, Zayn here is going to fuck you up,” Perrie threatened.

“He promised not to hurt her!” Camila objected.

Zayn burst out laughing. “Do you think Louis keeps promises?” He looked at Camila questioningly. “Man, you are one naive little girl. Not all the Coates Academy are as sweet as sugar as those outcasts.”

Perrie rolled her eyes. “Less talking, more hitting. Do you think we keep you around for conversations?” That made Zayn mad, he started advancing towards Perrie. She just stood there and smirked, unfazed by his actions. “Careful now, if Louis finds out that you hit me. He’ll kill you.” And with that, the blonde vixen left the classroom.

Zayn’s eyes were on her like a hungry animal. Camila felt exposed and frightened under his glance. There was no one here to save her now. Lauren was in the gymnasium, Dinah and Normani were off doing God-knows-what, and no one else would hear her cries.

“Does it ever bother you that Perrie treats you like a dog?”

Zayn narrowed his eyes. "Does it bother you that you have a retard for a little sister?”

Camila’s mouth floundered. She hadn’t heard her sister be called that in a long time and she was convinced it was out of everyone’s vocabulary. Apparently that wasn’t the case anymore, because Zayn said it like it was second nature.

“She’s not r-retarded,” Camila stuttered.

“Is that a bad word? Retard?”

Camila swallowed. “She’s autistic.”

Zayn laughed. “It’s the same thing as retarded.” Camila shook her head, feeling her eyes water. “You don’t like that word, I can tell,” he jeered. “I want to hear you say it.”

Camila’s eyes widened.

“Retard,” Zayn insisted. “Say it.”

Camila bit down on her lip, eyes fluttering shut as Zayn sauntered forward until he was in front of Camila’s desk. “Say, ‘My sister is a retard.’”

She choked back her tears. If Dinah saw her now, she would be disappointed. She wasn’t brave, Camila wasn’t brave and fearless like Lauren or Dinah.

“My sister… Come on, say it with me!” Zayn shouted. Camila let out a cry when he slapped her hard.

“My,” she whispered.

Another hard slap. Her face felt like it was burning. “You can say it while your face is pretty, or you can say it after I deformed it. My sister is a retard.”

“My sister is a retard,” Camila said in a shaky voice.

Tears poured down her cheeks as Zayn laughed maniacally. He walked over to where Sofi was sitting with her Barbie doll and yanked her up by the hair. He yanked Camila’s sister over to her. “One more time! Say my sister is--” Camila’s eyes locked with Sofi’s.

She fell back on a bed. Her eyes widened. Camila was on _her_ bed. Her gaze moved over to Sofi, who was back to playing with her Barbie. How she was one second in the school and the next second in her room was confusing, but she chose not to question it.

“Thank you, Sofi,” she whispered.

Camila felt relieved when she saw her little sister smile, but she remembered the cruel words that came out of her mouth minutes ago and frowned.

Zayn terrorized her, and she betrayed her little sister. Her little sister saved her, Lauren was still in the school.

It was too late for her to dwell on the past. Zayn would spread the word of her escape and he would come find her. Or worse, he’d tell Perrie and Louis and they’d do something to hurt Lauren. She had to act fast.

Camila’s first solution was to find Dinah, Normani, or even Shawn, but she knew they were busy and the time she spent trying to find them would only give Zayn more time to catch her. Her second solution was to run. But to where? They didn’t have a car, convincing Sofi to ride a bike wouldn’t be easy, and the obvious hiding spots would easily be found.

Clifftop. That’s where she should go. Lauren would know about it and she was pretty damn sure Zayn had never heard of it.

She stood up and rushed to her little sister. “We gotta go,” she breathed out.

“Where?” Sofi asked quietly.

“Away from the scary man from before.”

That was all the convincing her little sister need. She grabbed her hand and led them downstairs and out the back door. Camila knew that they had to avoid the streets or they’d be easily caught. The two Cabellos ran from backyard to backyard, only crossing the street when absolutely necessary.

Camila had to slow down because Sofi was getting tired. There was no way she could carry her, so she settled for walking. They made their way up the hill in silence except for Camila’s raging fast heartbeat. She prayed that Lauren would be okay and that Louis wasn’t hurting her.

Clifftop hadn’t changed a bit. No one seemed to have gone in since Lauren and her friends the first night of the FAYZ. Camila sat in the suite she was in before, staring at the opposite wall. Sofi was off in her own world with her Barbie doll, which was good, at least she didn’t have to worry about entertaining her.

She heard a rumble from outside. Camila’s brows furrowed in confusion. She got off the bed and made her way towards the suite’s balcony. She couldn’t make out who it was, but there were definitely four or five people in that boat. Her lips pursed as she stepped back inside. It was most likely people from Liam’s gang doing their patrols and she shouldn’t worry too much about it. The chance that the word got out that Sofi and her escaped was slim.

“Kaki, I’m hungry,” Sofi called from the suite’s bedroom.

Camila turned her head. “You are?”

“Munchy, munchy,” Sofi replied loudly.

She bit her lip and made her way to the mini bar. Hopefully Normani or Lauren didn’t eat anything from last time, because Camila didn’t feel comfortable leaving the suite. She didn’t even know how to prepare any food for her. Swinging the door open, she bit her lip at the contents. Alcohol, soda, candy bars, none were exactly good for her sister. Once Sofi got her hands on sugar, there was no stopping her then.

Camila took a box of Sour Patch Kids and a Hershey’s bar and made her way back to her sister. She knelt down and placed the candy in her hands. Sofi reacted immediately and opened the candy like it was her last meal.

“What do you say?”

“Thank you, Kaki,” Sofi mumbled with her mouth full.

Someone knocked on the door. Camila froze up in fear.

“Aren’t you going to get it?” Sofi said, looking at her sister expectantly.

Camila nodded her head slowly and stood up. She slowly made her way to the door. This felt like a scene straight out of a horror movie. Her hands shook as she grabbed onto the suite’s door. Another loud knock made her jump up. She had to be brave. For Sofi, for Lauren, for Dinah, for everyone who ever believed in her.

She opened the door slowly. Her jaw dropped, no sound came out of it. There in the doorway stood Zayn Malik with a gun and a wide, evil grin.

“Here’s Zaynie!” His voice was shrill. Camila slammed the door in his face and locked it with the deadbolt.

An impossibly loud sound was heard. Sofi screamed. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Camila cursed loudly, running her hands through her hair. The door handle was half hanging off, but luckily the deadbolt still held the locked door in place. She didn’t have much time. It was only a matter of seconds before Zayn would barge in and take her miserable life.

The balcony, that was the only way out.

Camila rushed over and picked up Sofi. Her sister was a lot heavier than expected, but she had no time to complain about how weak she actually was. If she could convince Zayn that they teleported again, they could be saved.

“Kaki, put me down!” Sofi cried.

“Sofi, sweetie, you gotta do that thing that you did with the scary man, okay? It’s the only way,” Camila pleaded.

“Put me down!”

“Sofi, you have to trust me--”

Another loud bang came from the door.

There was no turning back now. She leaned over and dropped her sister down on the balcony in the suite below them. She landed with a loud thump. Camila followed after her, climbing over the railing, and then landing back into the lower balcony.

Her leg burned. She wondered if she broke it. Camila crawled over to Sofi and wrapped her arms around her, pulling the both of them against the sliding door so Zayn couldn’t see them.

She heard the devil man above them, storming around the room. Camila held her breath in complete fear.

Zayn stepped out onto the balcony. He slammed his hands on the railing and howled in anger. “God fucking damn it!” He kicked the railing once more. “I hope those girls teleported back to their house because I left them a smoky surprise.” Camila’s eyes widened. He couldn’t have, could he? Her home set on fire by a psychopath, what a terrible, terrible thing to learn. Good thing she was safe.

Or so she thought, Sofi wailed loudly. Zayn stopped in his actions. He leaned over the railing to look dead in Camila’s eyes. The shark grin was back. Her heartbeat increased rapidly. Eight days into the FAYZ and she and Sofi would be the next casualties. She could picture it now, everyone gathered around their tombstones. Dinah would cry her eyes out, unable to make a joke because she just lost her best friend. Ally would try to keep it together and console Dinah but the poor girl definitely would be sobbing too. Lauren would be angry, no doubt, angry and upset. Shawn would have cried too and carved her name into his surfboard in her honor. Thinking about her death didn’t seem as terrifying as before.

Camila held Sofi close to her and buried her face into her sister’s neck, not caring if she was making her sister’s senses go into overload.

Zayn cocked his rifle.

He aimed.

He laughed.

He screamed.

Screamed? Camila pulled herself away from her sister, gaze moving to where Zayn was. This shouldn’t have happened. It was only in movies when a Deus ex machina would save the damsel in distress. Standing over her was Lauren Jauregui, clutching a lamp with a concerned look on her features. A Deux ex machina didn’t save her, a Lauren ex machina saved her.

“Camila,” she said softly.

“Lauren?” she asked in disbelief.

Lauren only smiled. “I have a boat down at the beach.” Oh, the boat was hers.

Camila bit down on her lip. “Where are we going?” she asked.

“How about not here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I don't hate Zayn, I only hate the character he's based off of. I'm so sorry if anyone was offended by this chapter!


	7. CHASE

Pacific Ocean - 126 Hours, 10 Minutes

“Have I ever told you that you are one lucky girl, Mila? You got yourself a smart bitch at beck and call!” Dinah, called over the loud motor. “Girl! Don’t you shake your head at me, you know it’s true, Lauren’s your bitch!”

At that comment, Lauren swerved the speedboat, causing everyone inside to freak out. Lauren turned back to her companions with an apologetic look. Normani looked sick to her stomach, clutching onto the railing for dear life. Dinah was trying her best to not laugh. Camila was holding onto Sofi for dear life. Finally, Ally was halfway off the speedboat, trying her best to climb back on.

“Sorry guys,” Lauren shouted. “Dinah, don’t distract the captain.”

“Aye, aye, Captain Camila’s bitch.”

Lauren stuck her middle finger up at her.

“Yo guys, can you hear me? Over,” Ashley’s voice boomed from the speedboat’s radio.

Lauren was quick to respond. “Yeah, we can, what’s up?” When Ashley didn’t respond, Lauren let out a loud and agitated sigh. “Over.”

“You gotta make sure to say over, Jauregui, otherwise I’ll think you’ve died. Over.”

“I’m clearly still alive. Over.”

Ashley laughed loudly. “Okay, so I did what you asked, and decided to go out to the desert to see if the barrier continues and I found something real crazy. Over.”

Lauren’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean by crazy? Over.”

“I found a dude’s shack, filled with gold bars. Like this old fucker must have thousands of dollars worth of gold in here. Over.”

“That’s great and all, but what about the barrier? Over.”

“I don’t know man, holy shit!” Ashley’s voice cut off and Lauren heard several seconds of static. She was going to ask her friend to see if she was okay but, Ashley started speaking again. “I’m actually not far from a mine right now and it’s making some weird noises. I’m gonna go check this out and I’ll report back to you later. Over.”

“Wait Ashley--” It was too late, the line was dead.

Lauren groaned and returned her focus back to the water. “That girl is going to get herself killed one day,” Normani said, her voice showed that she was quite queasy. “She might have healing powers, but can that save her from death by curiosity?”

“Don’t joke about that,” she hissed.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Camila said loudly. “How did you guys know where to find me?”

Ally finally pulled herself back onto the speedboat. The loud motor made it impossible for her to hear what she was saying but Lauren could see her lips moving.

“Smallz, we can’t hear you!” Dinah yelled.

Ally flushed in embarrassment. “I meant to say, Lauren came running to us at the clinic and said that you escaped from Zayn! For some reason, she knew you were going to be at Clifftop, but Liam and Niall were on our trail. They think we’re going to the power plant.”

Lauren’s heart fluttered at when she heard Camila giggle. “I guess I do have a smart bitch.” 

They rode in silence, or it felt like silence to Lauren. The one thing she loved about having Normani as a friend is that they both loved their quiet time. When Lauren needed space, Normani would give it to her and vice versa. The back of the boat consisted of Dinah and Ally talking aimlessly, drowned out by the motor. She wasn’t paying attention to what Camila was doing, possibly comforting Sofi.

Lauren got an idea. And she promised that this time it would be a good one. She slowed the boat to a stop once they neared the FAYZ’s barrier. As soon as the boat reached zero miles per hour, she turned around.

“Why have we stopped Lauser? Don’t tell me you’re out of gas or I’ll beat the shit out of you like I beat Ashley--” Dinah started to say.

“Have you even apologized to her for what you did?” Normani asked.

“No? It’s her fault anyways, so fuck her,” Dinah said indifferently.

Lauren narrowed her eyes. “That’s my best friend you’re talking shit about.”

Dinah held her hands up and shrugged. “Well I guess you like being friends with child murderers.”

“Dinah Jane Hansen!” Ally scowled, crossing her arms over her chest. “Ashley is a good person.”

“She never texted back, that automatically makes her a bad person,” Dinah concluded. Lauren sighed. Both Dinah and Ashley were in the wrong. Ashley should have prioritized Madison while Dinah shouldn’t have assaulted Ashley. It was a shame that both of them were crazy stubborn.

“Anyways,” Camila piped up. “Why are we stopped, Lo?”

Lauren smiled gratefully at Camila for changing the subject. “Well Camz, thank you for asking.” Dinah coughed. Lauren ignored her. “I’m gonna dive down and see if the barrier continues.”

Normani’s breath hitched and Lauren looked over her shoulder in confusion. “Lauren, you may be one of the best swimmers at Coates, but I don’t think this is a good idea.”

Lauren shrugged and took her Coates Academy blazer off. It was a surprise that she was still wearing it, but she considered it a badge of honor. Louis and his posse branded Coates Academy as evil and untrustworthy, but Lauren refused to let some tyrant’s actions define her. She unbuttoned her white shirt and pulled down her black skirt. She felt four pairs of eyes on her, which caused her to smirk. Finally, she took her tights and dress shoes off. Lauren stood proud, hands on her hips, and in just her bra and underwear.

“I’m so bisexual,” Dinah said dreamily.

“I said I was straight, but like I don’t really know what to say,” Ally muttered.

“Girl, you’re crazy.” Normani chuckled.

Camila looked like she was having a gay crisis in her head. He mouth was open, eyes wide, and she looked like she was quite uncomfortable in her seat. “Mani, toss the rope down after me,” Lauren ordered her friend. She sent Camila a wink and dived into the ocean.

The water felt nice. Cool, salty, and very familiar to her. Something splashed next to her, it was the rope. She smiled gratefully. “Hold onto the other end. Oh, and can you hand me some sort of tool? Like a screwdriver or something.”

“What am I, your maid?” Normani snapped. Lauren shrugged her shoulders in response. Her best friend rummaged through a drawer near the wheel and then handed her a screwdriver.

Lauren dove down immediately afterwards. She wished she had scuba gear because this would have made the whole process a lot easier. She would be able breathe and it would have been nice to see down underwater too. Lauren kept pushing herself to dive down further. The need to breathe was clouding her senses, so she stopped and jabbed her screwdriver in the direction of the barrier. To her delight, the screwdriver pushed at water. She tried it again for good measure. The barrier was there, just when she thought things would be okay, they weren’t. She shot up to the surface and gasped for air.

She smiled sadly, glancing over at the boat that drifted over fifty feet away. The roar of the engine caught her attention and her smile dropped.

“Boat coming!” Camila yelled. 

Lauren was quick to react and cut through the still water as she could back to the speedboat. She grasped onto the side and tried to pull herself up. Luckily, Dinah and Normani were at her aid, pulling her on deck. 

“I’ll take the wheel,” Normani said. “You go put some clothes on.”

Lauren moved to put back on her discarded clothes as Normani started the engine and gunned the throttle. Dinah was desperately pulling the rope back on deck to prevent the slack from being caught in the propeller.

Camila, clutching Sofi close to her, looked at the speed boat behind them. “It’s Liam and Niall! No Zayn, thank goodness.”

Lauren cursed loudly.

“Pull over, morons!” Liam shouted from behind them. They had the superior speedboat, and they were gaining on them quickly.

“How about you pull over this dick!” Dinah shouted back.

“That made no sense whatsoever!” Niall called angrily. “Pull over or I’ll tell Zayn!”

Lauren grinned, turning her head back to look at the two goons. “Good luck with that! Your big scary boss man is unconscious on a hill.”

Their boat jerked slightly and Lauren watched as the speed boat veered off to the left, straight into the the barrier. She smiled in satisfaction at the sound of Niall and Liam cursing as they tried to back out after jamming into such a strong force. And thank goodness Normani was a good boat driver because she kept speeding ahead without the commotion near them distracting her.

Ally gasped in horror. “They’re catching up! We gotta hurry!” She pointed at the boat that was once again making their way towards them.

“Hold on, I wanna try something,” Lauren said. “Hand me the radio.”

Dinah reached over and tossed it to her.

“This is Lauren. Are you getting this? Over,” Lauren said into the radio.

Niall blinked in surprise. He grabbed his radio and scowled. “You have to pull over!” Lauren smirked, pulling the same stunt Ashley did with her earlier. “Oh, over,” he finished.

“I don’t think so. Zayn tried to kill Camila, and you guys almost killed me. Over.”

Niall slammed his hand against the steering wheel. “Louis changed his mind. If you behave yourselves, you can all go free. Over.”

And just to prove him wrong, Louis’s voice came booming from Niall’s radio. “Get her, get Jauregui or don’t come back,” he screamed.

He looked at Lauren pointedly. “Hey Louis, they have Camila and the retard. Ally, Normani, and Dinah too.” Lauren tensed up at the derogatory name for Sofi.

“Camila’s with them too!?” Louis’s voice boomed. “Damn it, Zayn. Get them all! Louis out.”

Niall pulled on the throttle and jerked the speedboat forward. Lauren’s eyes widened and she turned to her friends worriedly. They were too far way for Lauren to do that thing with her eyes but not so far away that they couldn’t catch up to them. How long would this last? Gas would run out eventually and five girls against two bullies, powers or not, would be impossible.

A wave was building up near Niall’s speedboat, which greatly confused Lauren. There was no turf and the only way waves could build up is if they were man-made. This wave was coming from the shoreline so there was no way that their boat could have created that. The wave was building up larger and larger, so much so that it looked like it would tower over the speedboat. Niall let out an ear-piercing scream and let go of the wheel. The mini tsunami hit the boat so hard that it flipped over. Lauren couldn’t help but laugh at their misfortune.

More distance was brought between them and the two bullies. They had finally escaped.

“You all owe me a whole bunch for that,” Dinah said tiredly.

“That was you?” Normani squealed excitedly, turning to look at Dinah. “That was so awesome! You saved the day like, Dinah, gosh...If I wasn’t driving this boat, I swear I’d kiss you right now.”

Camila and Lauren’s eyes met suddenly. Camila sent her a wide grin and Lauren took that as an opportunity to let Camila back into her thoughts.  _ “I ship it. I’ve never seen Normani act like such a puppy,”  _ she thought. She wriggled her eyebrows knowingly and Lauren did her best to stifle a giggle.

“Normani, watch the boat!” Ally called frantically.

\--

Stefano Rey National Park - 123 Hours, 52 Minutes

“How much gas do we have left?” Dinah asked, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

Camila watched Lauren lean over and look at the dashboard. “Like an inch left.” Her gaze moved to the large cliff in front of them. “And of course, we almost run out near a fucking death cliff.”

“I think it’s gorgeous,” Camila commented dreamily. It reminded her of the time she went sea kayaking in Georgian Bay up in Ontario, Canada. The cliffs there were gorgeous and whenever her group rested, they would climb up the large cliffs and jump down into Lake Huron. She fell on her butt several times and it was sore afterwards, but it was so worth the adrenaline and rush of falling.

Lauren shrugged her shoulders, pulling the boat to a stop. “I’d rather have ugly and easy to land, than gorgeous and deadly.”

“Maybe we could go back and stop on that big island with the mansion and the yacht smashed in the side. Rumor has it that some bigshot actor power couple lived there,” Dinah suggested.

Camila rolled her eyes. “We don’t have enough gas for your luxury dreams of staying in a mansion for the night.”

“But that cliff has to be seventy feet high. There’s no way we can make an eight year old climb it,” Normani added.

Camila chuckled. “You’d be surprised.” She looked at Sofi with a small smile. “Sofi is like a little monkey. She can climb trees easily, I just gotta remember the trigger word.”

Dinah shrugged her shoulders, patting Ally on the back. “Now what about Ally here? I don’t think she can climb with her short legs.” Ally sent Dinah a glare, Dinah just laughed in response.

Lauren’s eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest. “This is no time for jokes, Dinah.” Lauren had that glint in her eyes, but Dinah wasn’t even looking at her and yet her devilish grin changed to a neutral expression. That piqued Camila’s curiosity. Wasn’t her power only supposed to work when Lauren was looking right into that person’s eyes? She’d have to test that theory out later.

Normani and Lauren did their best to dock the boat as smoothly as possible. But unfortunately, Lauren got a little too excited behind the wheel and crashed into the shore roughly. Sofi whined loudly, causing Camila to flinch. She chewed on her lower lip. Lauren turned her head and sent her an apologetic look.

“Do we need life jackets?” Ally asked tentatively. “Cause you know, safety first, right?”

“I’d say the water’s about four feet deep,” Lauren pointed out, gazing down at the shallow water. “We can carry Sofi on someone’s shoulders.”

“Or maybe Ally too,” Dinah mumbled.

Lauren’s nostrils flared and she whipped her head around so fast to glare at her. “What the fuck is your problem?” Dinah’s eyes widened in confusion. “Everything to you is a joke. We are in a crisis. Kids have died, and you’ve done nothing but make jokes about how tiny Ally is or tried to beat the shit out of Ashley! Are you that immature?”  
Dinah swallowed hard.

“See, you can’t even say anything, because you know I’m right,” Lauren seethed.

“Maybe humor is my way of coping with things, huh?”

“You have a little sister that’s probably wondering where the hell you are, because you totally forgot about her. All you care about is yourself!”

Camila wanted to stop them. But she couldn’t, she could only watch in horror as her best friend and romantic interest fought.

“And all you care about is Camila,” Dinah shot back. “Ever since you started getting buddy-buddy with her, she’s all you talk about.”

Lauren scowled. “Well all you used to talk about was how much you wanted to bang Ashley! Isn’t that a bit hypocritical?”

“Well I don’t want to bang her anymore.”

“Guys, let’s not fight,” Ally said softly, almost as if she was afraid Lauren or Dinah was going to yell at her.

Lauren ran a hand through her hair in frustration. “I’m sorry, I’m just so stressed out. I just wish that I didn’t have to be some teen hero at seventeen, you know? I’m sure you feel the same way Dinah.”

Dinah was silent at first. Camila heard her best friend contemplate her options in her head. Eventually, Dinah nodded sheepishly. “I’m sorry too Laur, I never meant to offend you or Ally. Let’s just go…” She trailed off awkwardly.

Dinah lifted Sofi onto her shoulders and climbed out of the boat. She shivered and gasped loudly when her body came in contact with the water. Normani jumped in after her and accidentally splashed Sofi. Camila tensed for a moment, wondering if that would set off her sister. Surprisingly, Sofi seemed rather indifferent to what happened around her.

“Hey Camz?” Her attention moved over to Lauren, who stood there with a bright smile and a small box in her hand. Camila couldn’t help but think that Lauren looked amazing with wet hair. “Do you mind carrying the first aid kit up the cliff with you?”

Camila sent Lauren a small smile. “Not at all.” She tossed her the box and hopped into the water.

Climbing the cliff was ten times more difficult than climbing the fence in front of the power plant. And as Camila knew, and to her friends’ shock, Sofi was a little monkey. She was able to climb to the top of the cliff much faster than Normani, who was a close second. Camila admittedly almost fell a few times due to her clumsy self. The first aid kit proved to be very troublesome. She flushed in embarrassment when she found out that she was the last one to reach the top. If sweet, tiny, Ally Brooke was more athletic than her, then she really needed to figure out what was wrong with her.

It was dark and Camila felt like she just ran a marathon. “I guess we sleep here in the middle of the woods?”

Normani nodded. “Yeah, we can start a fire, keep the bears away.”

“That’s actually a myth,” Camila stated a matter-of-factly. “Wild animals see fires all the time.”

“Well thanks Chancho, now I gotta sleep in a tree,” Dinah said grumpily.

Camila sent her a wide grin. “No problem, Cheechee.”

“What Camz meant to say,” Lauren said in a sing-song sort of voice, placing a hand on Camila’s shoulders, “is that all wild animals are afraid of fire and we’ll be fine, right?” She raised an eyebrow at Camila, expecting her to continue.

“Yeah, sure, we’ll go with that.” Camila gave her a pointed look.

“Ass,” Lauren scoffed, shoving her playfully.

Dinah, Normani, and Lauren went off look for firewood while Camila and Ally stayed with Sofi. They sat in silence, taking in the sounds of crickets chirping and the occasional bird call. Camila was getting used to the sound of no waves, and that bothered her greatly.

“I’ve always been afraid of the dark, you know,” Ally spoke up. Camila turned to look at her short friend. “I’ve been afraid of a lot of things. Spiders, bees, small spaces, big crowds, clowns, and all the other basic fears. But my biggest fear is poofing.”

“Ally,” Camila started to say.

“I have five days, almost four. I found my birth certificate and I’ve been counting down the hours.” Ally frowned. “And now that it’s been confirmed to be possible, it’s hopeless.”

“Ally, please don’t say that,” Camila pleaded.

Ally shook her head. “Mila, I think you should expect that these next few days are going to be my last. I’m running out of time.”

Camila wrapped her arms around Ally, pulling her into a tight hug. Ally quickly reciprocated it and her heart almost shattered hearing her friend sniffle. But Camila did what she could do best and held her close to her, squeezing her small frame tightly. “I love you, I won’t let you go without a fight.”

With those words, Ally relaxed a bit, but she didn’t pull away. “I love you too Mila. You’re a good person, I hope the FAYZ doesn’t take that away.”

Camila smiled sadly.

“You know what I’m afraid of?” Camila whispered. “Being a great big nothing. That I’m useless, unwanted, and unloved.”

Ally pulled away. “That was never the case. And it never will be the case. Don’t ever think otherwise.”

“Sorry to interrupt this big gay love fest, but we got the firewood needed,” Dinah said loudly, interrupting Camila and Ally’s moment.

The fire that the three girls built was remarkably a good fire. It reminded her of the times she’d go camping with her family or attended a summer camp. She hated them, because she hated being so far from home. But the one thing she did love about summer camp was the sense of togetherness they had.

“I wish we had S’mores. I hated having them during summer camp, but now? I’d kill for one,” Camila mused. She felt Lauren’s eyes on her and it caused her to blush. The aesthetic loving part of her soul loved how Lauren’s green eyes reflected the last bit of the sunset and the fire made her gaze seem much more vivid. Lauren had the best eyes.

“That just made me so hungry,” Normani said. “Do you think that the berries on the bushes are safe to eat?”

Lauren shook her head. “I’ll eat anything, but those look crazy shady to me.”

“Kaki,” Sofi blurted out. “Munchy, munchy.”

“Soon, Sofi,” Camila said. “We need to get some rest first.”

Everyone agreed that they were tired. Lauren, Normani, and Camila dealt with so much stress that day that they eagerly voiced their approval to sleep. But surprisingly, the first one knocked out cold was Dinah, followed by Ally and Normani short after. 

Camila couldn’t sleep. Her mind kept moving to the vicious grin on that Zayn sported. His manic laughter rang through her ears. And it was him who made her betray her little sister and call her that awful, awful name. She wondered if Sofi heard her when she said it. Sofi had always been very perceptive, and she hadn’t acknowledged that Camila did anything wrong.

“Still awake?” Lauren’s raspy voice interrupted her thoughts. She nodded, sitting up from her prostrate position. Lauren took that as a cue to scoot next to her. Camila gave Lauren a soft smile and rested her head on her shoulder.

“Yeah, unfortunately,” Camila mumbled. An idea popped into her head. It probably wasn’t a very good one, but when did Camila ever come up with any good ideas? “I have a terrible thing I want to tell you.”

Lauren wrapped her arm around Camila’s waist and pulled her closer. “What terrible thing?”

“I called Sofi a bad name,” she admitted. “Zayn made me betray her.”

“Camz, what did he do?”

“It’s not important. He hurt me, but--”

“He hurt you?” Lauren seethed. Camila pulled herself away from Lauren, but Lauren was faster and she clutched onto Camila’s arm for dear life. Camila saw the glimmer in her eyes. That was her cue to look away. “Tell me what he did.” Her voice seemed to vibrate through her but Camila kept her ground. “Camila, tell me what he did,” she repeated. And as much she tried to fight it, she had to look at Lauren and tell her.

“He slapped me a couple times, but it wasn’t so bad--”

“He hit you?” Lauren whisper-yelled. “He hit you!?”

“Lo, I swear, it’s not as bad as it sounds,” Camila pleaded.

Lauren shook her head violently. “Fuck, Camz, I hope he died when I hit his head.”

Camila bit down on her lip and her nose scrunched. “Lo,” she mumbled.

Lauren ran a hand through her tresses, squeezing hard on Camila’s hand. She truly seemed beyond pissed at the whole situation. “Tell me you feel the same way, Camila,” she ordered. The glint her eyes was much brighter now and it honestly scared her.

“Lo, stop, you’re scaring me,” Camila pleaded once more.

That stopped Lauren in her actions and her eyes widened. The glint in her eyes was gone. An apologetic look formed on her features.

“I’m so sorry,” Lauren said softly.

Camila nodded slowly. “I was right. Anger makes your power stronger. You’re able to persuade people without influencing them directly.”

Lauren frowned. “That was a test?” The look on her face made Camila think that she was going to get mad again.

“Yes,” she admitted. “But I wasn’t lying.”

Lauren gasped quietly. Camila immediately felt terrible for what she had done and wrapped her arms around her comfortingly. Lauren relaxed into her hold and nuzzled into Camila, like a cat showing its affection.

“I’m dangerous. If I can’t control myself, I could be the next Louis,” Lauren whispered shakily.

Camila didn’t say anything, just rubbed Lauren’s back in an attempt to calm her down.

“This is so messed up,” she continued.

Camila smiled grimly. “We’re going to fix this.” She felt like she’d been saying that a lot lately. She said it to Ally, and now to Lauren, but did she really mean it? For once in her life, she truly had no idea of what was to come for the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dinah is #2problematic4u


	8. TRUTH

The FAYZ - 100 Hours, 13 Minutes

Lauren made it clear that morning that they needed to go back to Perdido Beach. After sleeping on it, she knew that Louis had to be stopped. But how to stop them was the real question. She needed a lot of people to stop him, preferably those with strong offensive powers. Normani and Dinah were given allies, and she could always count on Ashley to back her up. Ariana would support her, and Shawn might support her because of Camila. There was Harry and Jade too, but Lauren didn’t know what kind of powers Jade had.

It was risky, but time was at the essence. Ally would be disappearing soon, and who knew how long it would take before Zayn could no longer be controlled by Perrie and Louis and went down his own spiral into insanity.

They were miles and miles away from Perdido Beach, no access to a vehicle, and the only way they could find their way back to the town was by following the barrier. Lauren hated walking, but Dinah hated walking more than she did.

Everyone was hungry too. Sofi would whine and scream, demanding food, and Camila had serious trouble trying to calm her down.

They ran into a campground, with surprisingly enough food for the six of them, even though the bears got through most of it. Ally found a knife and gave it to Lauren. Normani found other camping supplies that could useful and soon the five of them had almost overflowing backpacks with food, sleeping bags, and other camping supplies that could be useful for the future but no one knew how it would help them.

“What kind of music do you guys like?” Normani asked them during one of their breaks.

“Beyonce, always,” Dinah replied instantly. “Rihanna is great too.”

Normani grinned wildly. “I love Beyonce too, but you knew that.” She turned to Lauren with a soft smile. “Lauren here likes Lana Del Rey, The 1975, and some obscure surfer bands.”

“I could have said that,” Lauren shot back.

“Nah chick, you’d go into a rant on how amazing Weezer is.”

“Weezer?” Camila grinned. “I saw them in Santa Barbara.”

Lauren’s face lit up. “Shit, really? I was at that concert too.” She chuckled at the memory. “Well, I didn’t have tickets, but I snuck in like the rebel that I am,” she flirted.

Her childish giggle made Lauren’s heart skip a beat. “Shawn got us tickets. It was fun.” Oh no, heart race canceled. The mention of Shawn totally killed Lauren’s mood.

“And what do _you_ listen to Ally?” Normani changed the subject, sensing Lauren’s discomfort evident on her face.

“Gospel and country music,” Ally said timidly. “I know it’s not as cool as Ed Sheeran or Taylor Swift-”

“Please, country music is underrated as hell.” Normani’s Texan twangy accent that only appeared once in a blue moon made Lauren cringe. “But I’m not into dudes like Blake Shelton or Brad Paisely. I prefer the girls like Kelsea Ballerini, Kacey Musgraves, or Maren Morris.” Watching Ally smile, Normani turned to Lauren with a wide grin. “You’re not alone, I got Laur hooked on Maren actually.”

Lauren’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Mani!” Dinah burst out laughing while Camila just smirked. “Just because I think ‘Company You Keep’ or ‘Just Another Thing’ are anthems to my life does _not_ mean I’m hooked on Maren Morris.”

“Oh yeah?” Normani asked incredulously, eyebrows raised, and hands placed firmly on her hips. “You said the same thing about ‘Sugar’, ‘Rich’, ‘Drunk Girls Don’t Cry’, ‘My Church’, ‘80’s Mercedes’, ‘Once’, ‘I Wish I Was’, ‘Second Wind’, ‘How It’s Done’, and--”

Lauren sighed in defeat. “Okay I admit it, I do think Maren is amazing.” When she saw Normani’s smirk, she felt inclined to continue with, “plus she’s really hot too.”

Camila’s nostrils flared. “Wait, what?” The jealousy in her features was eminent, and it amused Lauren greatly. “How pretty is she?”

Ally shrugged her shoulders. “I think she looks like a cow.” Dinah roared with laughter once more. The short girl turned to Dinah and her rambunctious behavior. “Kind of like you, Dinah Jane.”

Normani and Lauren stared at each other in shock. Lauren, in the nine days of knowing Ally Brooke, had never heard her say anything insulting. She’d expect something insulting from Normani, Dinah, Ashley, or even Ariana -- but from Ally? Never in a million years.

“What, have y’all never seen Ally’s mean side?” Dinah asked, noticing Lauren and Normani’s disbelieving looks.

“Ally’s mean side? I find that hard to believe is possible,” Lauren replied with a snort.

Camila gave Lauren a lopsided grin. “Well that’s the thing Lo, it shouldn’t come out because Ally has to be the only nice one in our friend group. But Dinah here, brings out the worst in everyone.”

Dinah scowled. “Shut your piehole Walz or I’ll smack you!”

Camila stuck her tongue out. “You smack me, and Lauren will skin you alive.”

“What makes you say that, Camz?” Lauren wiggled her eyebrows. Camila just laughed, sending Lauren a wide and knowing smirk.

“Because you’re totally whipped,” Normani said for Camila. Lauren glared at her best friend. “Geez, once Lucy hears about you--”

“Lucy,” Lauren interrupted suddenly. “Oh God, we left Lucy at Coates Academy. Along with Vero, Alexa, and everyone else that we were kind of friends with. I bet she hates us.”

Normani’s eyes widened in realization. Nine days. Nine days, and they already forgot about one of their closest friends. Lauren nodded meekly. The other three seemed confused as to what they were on about. It was no secret that a bunch of people were left at Coates Academy, and a lot of them must have had powers. She didn’t tell anyone, not even Normani, but she knew Lucy had powers too. Lucy could teleport, bounce from place to place instantly. While Vero, a girl with no filter but an interesting mindset, could cancel gravity. As for Alexa, she didn’t know what abilities she had but she knew she didn’t like Louis at all.

“Man, you Coates kids sure do not have any sense of loyalty,” Dinah said after a moment of silence.

“Dinah--” Camila warned.

Lauren couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. “No, she’s right, we really don’t have any sense of loyalty.” She stood up, stretching her arms. “We just wait for that golden opportunity and then we sprint from our problems.”

They hiked for hours after that. Lauren refused to speak to anyone. Dinah kept trying to meet Lauren’s gaze. But stubborn, angered, Lauren Jauregui wouldn’t forgive her -- not just yet at least. Normani knew to respect her boundaries, but Camila, Camila was a different story.

She tried to initiate conversation with her several times, but Lauren just shrugged her off. She wasn’t in the mood for talking to anyone. It was getting to the point where Lauren wanted to snap at her.

Another thing that was annoying? Sofi Cabello. Lauren figured that Sofi couldn’t help it, but all the time the younger Cabello would be whining and complaining. It made Lauren irritated.

And then Lauren lost it. They were climbing one of the many hills located in Santa Katrina Hills when Sofi cried out “munchy, munchy” once again. She stopped, turned around, and sent Camila a big glare. “God can you ever get her to shut up?”

Camila looked at her wide-eyed. “Lauren--”

“I mean, you’re her sister. You gotta have some control over her!”

“Lauren,” Normani growled. “Cut this shit out. You’re being a dick.”

Lauren huffed, looking between her four friends. Ally looked shocked with saucer eyes and teeth biting down on her lower lip. Dinah looked pissed off, even more so than she did during their previous break. Normani had a condescending look, like a mother scolding her child for being inappropriately rude. But Camila, Camila’s expression made Lauren’s heart wrench. She looked hurt, lips parted and forehead creasing in confusion.

She averted her gaze from her friends. “Fuck.” Lauren angrily kicked a pebble down the hill they were on. “Camz, I’m so sorry,” she pleaded, looking back at her.

Camila’s expression was still neutral. “It’s okay, Laur.”

“No it’s not!”

“You’re probably just tired and you need to lash out at something, I get it,” she reasoned.

Lauren’s jaw dropped. “I don’t get how you can let this go so easily.”

Camila just shrugged and gave her a small smile that made Lauren’s heart race like crazy.

And like nothing ever happened, they continued their journey. Unfortunately, it was getting dark out, like pitch black dark. The sun had set and there wasn’t a very good place to camp where they were. Lauren didn’t want to be on top of a hill and exposed so everyone could see them.

“What do we do?” Ally asked the question that was on everyone’s mind. “We gotta stop too. I’m tired, Sofi’s tired, and-”

She was interrupted by a loud yipping.

“Coyotes? For real?” Dinah moaned.

Camila shook her head. “They won’t harm you unless you give them a reason to.”

“Well I don’t want to give them a reason to,” Dinah hissed, crossing her arms over her chest. The yipping continued and Lauren swore she heard a girl swear loudly.

“I agree with Dinah,” Lauren admitted, reveling in the shocked expression that the Tongan sported. She may have been pissed off at her for a solid day or so, but she wasn’t going to throw their friendship away just like that. Lauren concluded that so-called Laurinah was a confusing as hell hot and cold friendship.

Normani let out an audible gasp. “Guys, look! A building. We could spend the night there.”

Lauren beamed. “Normani Kordei, you fucking genius. I love you.”

Everyone laughed at Lauren’s comment and made their way down the hill. Well, going down a steep hill in the dark was actually freaking impossible. Poor Ally tripped on a root and began rolling down the hill. Dinah, trying to contain her laughter, came chasing after her. Lauren offered to carry Sofi the rest of the way down, but Camila shook her head, thanking her kindly for the offer.

Normani was the first to the door. She checked the windows. The shack looked pitch-black, almost abandoned. When Lauren arrived next to her a few moments later, she gave Lauren an apprehensive look. “I take it back, this looks shady as fuck.”

“Don’t be a pussy,” Lauren shot back.

“You know what they say.” Normani smirked. “You are what you eat.”

Lauren slapped Normani’s arm harshly, causing her best friend to laugh loudly.

Dinah, Camila, and Sofi arrived with a dirt covered Ally moments later. She felt guilty, seeing the dirty short girl. Hopefully this shack had a shower.

Lauren knocked on the door loudly. No answer.

But before she could knock again, the loud canine sounds and the loud running steps behind them.

“Hey fuckers, get inside!” The unmistaken voice of Ashley Frangipane rang out.

“What the f-” Lauren started, pushing the door open. She jumped out of the way so everyone else could get in. Her four friends rushed inside quickly as Lauren held the door for them.

Ashley grabbed Lauren’s arm and pulled her in after them, but suddenly Lauren was knocked over. She screamed in shock as one of those dogs had plowed her over. Lauren did the best that she could to fight the canine off of her but it was impossible. The creature snarled and nipped at her, Lauren was yelling and crying.

“Get the door!” Camila shouted over the chaos. Lauren managed to throw the savage beast off of her long enough to get back on her feet. She rushed to slam the door but another coyote was in the way, blocking the door from being closed.

A sharp jaw closed around her knee and she yelped, crashing against the door with a loud cry. The coyote’s head was now right against her face. Why was no one helping her out? She pushed as hard as she could, trying to get the savage away from her.

He sunk his teeth into her shoulder. Blood sprayed everywhere as he teared and ripped at the flesh of her skin. The pain was excruciating.

A soft thud. The coyote whimpered and loosened his hold.

Lauren saw Ashley standing over her with a large blunt bat. “God Laur, look at you dumbass, all helpless and torn up.”

“Fuck you Ashley,” Lauren groaned. “I didn’t see any of you trying to help.”

“I just saved your life-”

Lauren heard Dinah laugh mirthlessly. “Not yet Frangipane, she’s bleeding out like crazy.”

Ashley nodded, kneeling down by Lauren and placing her hands on Lauren’s bloody shoulder. It was working, but she felt like her shoulder had been ripped off her body. It was getting to the point where Ashley’s hands were starting to get blood-stained as she tended to her friend’s wound.

The wound closed in a matter of a minute.

Lauren’s breathing picked up as her body registered that she wasn’t going to pass out.

Ashley gave Lauren a warm smile, reaching over to squeeze her friend’s hand. And with that, Lauren watched as Normani turned to Dinah. “You can hate her as much as you want for not saving Madison, but you gotta admit, we would all be dead without Ashley.”

Lauren didn’t miss the shared glance between Dinah and Ashley, and the smile playing on both girls’ lips gave her hope that maybe, just maybe, things could be fixed between them.

* * *

 

Hermit Jim’s Shack - 97 Hours, 43 Minutes

Camila wanted to find a good reason to hate Ashley Frangipane, but she couldn’t. Ashley was funny, witty, intelligent, and genuinely a good person to hang around. She didn’t want to be jealous. But the fact that Lauren and Ashley seemed to _get_ each other really irked her. Then again, Normani and Lauren understood each other on a high level. But with the blue-haired Coates girl, it was different.

Selfishly, she wanted to be the person Lauren could trust and rely on and _understand_ , just like her with her friends. But it was too much to ask for knowing someone for nine days. They had a connection, Camila and Lauren were different, she was sure of it.

“So Ashley, you have a lot of explaining to do,” Normani spoke as she banged something gold against a board that she was trying to nail against the door. “For example, where the hell have you been the last day?”

Camila watched Ashley shrug indifferently. “I did what Laur asked. I went out, I looked for an opening in the barrier, I found this shack with all the gold as I told you.”

“And the mine?” Lauren asked from the only couch. Her buttoned down shirt was open, exposing her wound that was now a big scar, and the white shirt was blood stained.

Camila noticed how Ashley’s expression fell. “The mine, yeah, I wish I didn’t go in there,” she said timidly.

“What’s in the mine, Ashley?”

Ashley looked distressed, scared, something Camila hadn’t seen since Dinah shoved her up against the wall in the clinic. “I don’t fucking know what I saw. But I saw some fucked up shit,” she said vulgarly. “Those coyotes? They aren’t normal. They can talk, not very well, but they can speak human English.”

Dinah, who was leaning against the shack’s wall, looked at Ashley incredulously. “And these talking coyotes came from the mine?”

The healer shook her head. “No. Well yes, but they were waiting outside the mine. They wanted to take me to their leader.”

“Like their pack leader?” Lauren snorted. “I’m getting some kinky vibes from this.”

Camila sent Lauren a glare for her immaturity. “Lauren,” she chastised.

Lauren shrugged her shoulders. “Sorry, babe, I couldn’t resist.” Camila rolled her eyes which caused Lauren to pout rather cutely.

“Anyways,” Ashley huffed. “Pack Leader said I had to meet with their leader in the mine.”

Normani finished boarding up the door and scowled. “This story just keeps weirder and weirder. A pack leader taking orders from something else.”

“But who did you meet in the mine?” Camila prodded curiously.

Ashley made her way towards the kitchen. “Are you guys hungry? I am. I’m gonna open some pudding.”

Camila found it very odd that Ashley just dismissed their questions so easily. It was almost like she didn’t want to talk about it. Sure, talking coyotes were strange but how were they frightening enough to not mention what happened at the mine?

Ally sighed. “Is there way I can clean myself off? I look like a dirt bug.”

“Aw, don’t worry Smallz, dirt is good for the immune system,” Dinah comforted her in a sing-song voice.

“Who would willingly eat dirt? That’s terrible!” Ally pointed out.

Normani chuckled. “My mom used to make worms and dirt, but that’s not even dirt. It’s chocolate pudding with oreo bits and gummy worms.”

More loud growling and yipping were heard outside. The coyotes hadn’t left yet. In fact, their cries seemed to increase suddenly.

Ashley emerged from the kitchen, tossing each of them a pudding cup.

“Kaki, can I have one?” Sofi asked from next to her, still flinging her Barbie around aimlessly. Camila almost forgot about her little sister and sent her a warm smile, opened the pudding cup for her and then handing it over. She wasn’t that hungry anyways.

Lauren was one step ahead of her. “Camz, you need to eat.” Her eyebrows rose at the green-eyed girl’s request. She bit down on her lower lip. “Camz, seriously, you need to eat. Come over and cuddle so I can feed you.”

Camila reluctantly left her sister’s side to join Lauren on the couch. Lauren winced, sitting up and patting the space next to her. She made sure to lie down next to her good shoulder and she planned to give the older girl as much space as she needed but Lauren had other ideas. She wrapped her arm around Camila’s torso and brought her close to her.

She removed her arm from under Camila and moved to open the pudding cup. Camila watched as Lauren dipped her fingers into the pudding and then stuck them near her face.

Camila scrunched her nose up in disgust. “Lauren, that’s gross. I’m not sucking your fingers.”

Dinah snorted from across the room. “Y’all nasty as heck, save that for the bedroom.”

Lauren scowled and stuck her fingers back into her own mouth, licking the pudding off.

“Seriously Lo, you’re being really gross,” Camila reprimanded her. She just smiled, placing a kiss on top of Camila’s head.

Ashley gasped suddenly. “Wait, Jauregui, you and Camila?” She had a look of surprise on her face. Camila couldn’t help but smirk.

Lauren nodded. “Yeah, got a problem?”

Ashley’s expression changed into something unreadable, Camila couldn’t try and read what she was thinking because Ashley didn’t seem to have any thoughts. Not to mention, Camila got a weird vibe coming from Ashley’s head ever since they got in the shack. Like she couldn’t hear any of her thoughts, and they simply were null and void.

“Not at all.” Ashley’s lips curved into a genuine smile. “You guys would be adorable. You balance each other out.”

Lauren seemed satisfied and relieved by her friend’s answer.

“Human. Come out.” A gruff, worn-out voice growled causing Ally to leap in the air in complete shock and scream. Normani quickly rushed over to wrap her arms around the short girl and try to calm her down.

“Is that-” Dinah began to ask.

“Yup,” Ashley interrupted her, popping the ‘p.’ “Fuck no.”

“I just realized we’re swearing way too much for Sofi’s good,” Lauren whispered in her ear.

“She doesn’t register it apparently,” Camila mumbled in response.

“Human. Come out.” The same voice called out even louder now.

Ashley put her hands on her hips. “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.” Dinah found that way too amusing and started laughing. Hell, even scared half-to-death Ally cracked a smile at that, still allowing herself comfort in Normani’s arms.

“Human teach Pack Leader. Human say,” the coyote growled again, Camila assumed that this was Pack Leader.

“You want some lessons with Professor Frangipane? Alright.” Ashley cleared her throat. “First lesson for you, you filthy, ugly, nasty, mangy animal: Never trust a human.”

Silence on the other end.

Camila assumed the coyotes were gone now.

“The Darkness,” Pack Leader said.

Camila watched Ashley wince in fear. She bit down on her lip before continuing her harsh words. “Go, go ahead and tell your master in the mine about it, idiots!”

“Ashley, what’s The Darkness?” Lauren asked in confusion, voicing the opinion of probably everyone in the room, Camila thought.

“I don’t know, man. I don’t know. There’s something in the mine that they listen to and are scared of.” The healer crossed her arms over her chest. “In fact, I’m scared of it. I almost peed myself when I went in there.”

Normani raised an eyebrow, still loosely slinging her arms around Ally. “Did you see it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t remember. I don’t want to remember.”

The six of them decided that the only way to make sure that the coyotes wouldn’t eat them alive was if three of them stayed awake at all times. Normani’s door barricade was as secure as it could get and Lauren refused to give up the couch to Normani, so they’d have to make due from there.

Ally, Dinah, and out of reluctance, Lauren, decided to take the first shift. Camila couldn’t really move anyways because as soon as the green-eyed girl fell asleep, she wrapped her arms tightly around Camila and held her close to her. She only had to worry about Sofi, but she was off in her own world, slowly drifting off to sleep.

Neither Normani or Ashley seemed like they wanted to talk. In fact, Normani was watching Dinah sleep with a wide smile plastered on her face. Camila figured out pretty early on that Normani had a crush on Dinah, but she didn’t think the crush was that big until now. And Camila approved of Normani, because she was Lauren’s best friend.

Hours passed of Camila forcing herself to stay awake and trying to keep her mind on anything interesting. Lauren’s grip around her was strong and sometime during Camila’s watch, she buried her face into Camila’s neck.

And then they switched. Ally and Dinah were both sleepy and grumpy, but they agreed to continue their watch. Lauren mumbled in her ear that she had the best sleep for only a few hours. With that new information, Camila was able to fall asleep quickly and easily in the arms of Lauren Jauregui.

Camila didn’t know how much she slept, but it wasn’t enough when she was awoken by the sounds of hundreds of canines yipping excitedly. She shot up and rubbed her eyes. Lauren was no longer next to her.

“There’s got to be at least a hundred of them out there,” Dinah whisper-yelled.

Camila hummed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Five of them were crowded around the one window in Hermit Jim’s shack.

“More than one pack,” Ashley mumbled. “Packs aren’t supposed to be this big. You really learn a lot when you spend a day with coyotes.”

“Then why are they so loud?” Camila asked sleepily. All of them turned their heads, finally acknowledging Camila’s presence.

The yipping increased, causing Camila’s gaze to move to the window. Something was glowing like a flame or torch of some sort because it was bright orange.

Ally gasped loudly. “Those coyotes have a torch! Like real fire. On a stick. That’s not even possible.” The short girl burst out laughing. “Oh wait, silly me, it’s the FAYZ. Mutated animals that can create fire is totally plausible,” she finished her thought sarcastically.

Camila got off the couch and made her way over to Ally and the rest of the group. “The Darkness must have given Pack Leader the torch,” Ashley muttered.

Lauren got up from her crouched position and made her way towards the door. “Can’t we make a deal with Pack Leader?”

“No way,” Normani disagreed. “They’re going to kill us.”

Ashley stood up and began pacing across the the shack. “No, they want me alive. The Darkness wants me to teach them human ways. I don’t know about you guys.” Camila heard a string of curse words from Dinah’s thoughts directed at Ashley. She shot her best friend a dirty look which Dinah merely ignored.

“Pack Leader, come on, it doesn’t have to be like this!” Ashley cried in panic. “Don’t set this damn shack on fire.”

Camila already could smell the disgusting smell of smoke. “It’s too late,” she breathed out and backed away from the window. Her first instinct was to run back to Sofi, who was still asleep. She scampered across the shack and wrapped her arms around Sofi’s small frame in hopes of protecting her.

The three Coates girls were kicking and banging gold bars against the door, in hopes of getting it open. Smoke was seeping in from small nooks and crannies, slowly killing the seven girls.

Camila could see a yellow tongue lick beneath the door.

“Fire!” Lauren cried. “We’re too late.”

The shack was burning quickly. Smoke was seeping in in dangerously toxic amounts. Camila wondered if Sofi could teleport them out if she tried. Maybe Sofi had to feel like she was in immediate danger, but her little sister wasn’t even recognizing that the whole building was burning.

“Wait,” Lauren coughed. “Normani, you can freeze the boards and the doors and knock them down.” Normani was quick to react, she touched her hands to the door, initially crying in pain because of the heat but soon the previously burning door turned to solid ice. Normani gave it a harsh kick and shattered the frozen door.

Camila got up on her feet and rushed out, grabbing onto Sofi’s hand to pull her with her. And just as the last person, Dinah, left the shack, the whole building collapsed behind them.

Ashley pushed to the front of the group.

“Pack Leader,” she snarled.

Pack Leader stared back at Ashley fearlessly.

Pack Leader barked a command and the huge mob of coyotes advanced. Camila held Sofi close to her as a group of coyotes made their way towards them. Normani was doing her best to freeze any coyote that tried to touch her. But everyone else was helpless and backing towards the burning building.

Camila felt something bite her arm. She screamed loudly, catching the attention of Lauren. She abandoned trying to kick a coyote off of her and ran towards her. “Lauren, no!” She didn’t want to bring more attention to them and cause Lauren to get hurt anymore.

And then they were gone.

All of the coyotes were gone except for Pack Leader, who seemed shocked by the sudden disappearance by all of his friends. He whimpered in fear and scurried off.

“Camz,” Lauren breathed out, sounding worried.

Camila looked at her arm. The bite wound looked nothing like Lauren’s terrible and gnarly shoulder wound. “I’m fine-” She was interrupted by Lauren’s lips crashing into hers and cupping her cheeks. In all honesty Camila wasn’t expecting it all, so she didn’t reciprocate the kiss immediately, but she did eventually. Just like the other two kisses, she felt alive and comforted. They pulled away when Dinah made a loud gagging noise.

Lauren narrowed her eyes. “You don’t get to say shit, Dinah Jane.” She pecked Camila’s lips once again.

Ashley rolled her eyes. “Anyways, can we explain what happened to all the coyotes? Or is that another mystery of the FAYZ?”

“My sister. She has teleporting abilities,” Camila answered. “That’s probably the reason why they all disappeared.”

Ashley took that as an answer. Camila didn’t tell her about Sofi, but she was sure the blue haired girl was smart enough to put two and two together.

“So, what now? We waltz into Perdido Beach and say we’re taking over?” Norman’s tone was condescending, like she believed the plan was dumb.

Lauren shrugged, taking a step back from Camila. “Well, do you have any other bright ideas? We just took on a hundred coyotes, we can take on Louis.”

“What about Zayn?” Ally voiced everyone’s concerns.

Lauren turned to Ashley, expecting her to back her up. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” Ashley nodded slowly.

“But first, let’s treat everyone’s wounds. Normani’s hands look like they’ve been barbecued and Mila’s got a nasty bite wound,” Dinah decided for everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got everything together and figured out how much more left I need to write. This book's going to be 14 chapters including an epilogue. But it's very action packed, so be prepared.


	9. REBELLION

Coates Academy - 87 Hours, 46 Minutes

Lauren could never catch a break. With the addition of Ashley to their party. Lauren had to deal with two loud and obnoxious wild animals instead of one. What made it worse was that they both were way too close to biting each other’s heads off. The tension was so thick, not to mention everyone was exhausted or complaining about something.

Ally needed a shower, Sofi needed food, Camila, Ashley, and Normani, didn’t get enough sleep, and Dinah was well...Dinah.

Lauren knew where they were. This was one of the many hiking trails that was apart of Coates Academy’s ground. She remembered walking around on them a lot as a sophomore before Zayn’s recklessness took away their privileges to walk the grounds freely.

A thud was heard behind her.

“Sofi, darn it,” Camila rushed out, wrapping her arms around her little sister’s body. “She’s too tired to walk.”

Dinah grimaced. “And I think I can speak for all of us when I say we’re all too tired to carry an eight year old.”

Lauren, surprisingly filled with enough energy, made her way towards Sofi and picked her up. She slung the younger Cabello over her shoulders so she was wrapping her arms around her. Sofi was like a mini backpack.

The additional weight on her back slowed her down which caused the group to split up. Dinah, Normani, and Ashley were ahead by several hundreds of feet while Ally and Camila hung back with Lauren.

FIfteen minutes passed, or maybe it was five minutes. Lauren couldn’t tell, but she was too tired to carry Sofi anymore.

They decided to stop at a small clearing with a bunch of trees near the road that led up to Coates Academy. The location choice was risky, but everyone had to be in Perdido Beach. The last place Louis would expect his fugitives to go was anywhere near Coates Academy.

Normani gave everyone energy bars. Lauren actually hated the taste of those bars. It was too chewy and bland, but it was better than having her stomach rumble constantly. Something rustled in the bushes. Lauren’s ears perked up and she whipped her head around to see where the noise came from. Sofi was standing over something lying down on the ground.

Lauren got up from her seat and made her way towards what Sofi was looking out.

Her jaw dropped.

Her eyes widened.

Lucy Vives laid there, a little more than skin and bones, pale, and with concrete on her hands.

“Oh no, oh no,” Lauren rushed out, kneeling down next to her best friend that she abandoned at Coates Academy with the tyrant. “Lucy…”

Normani and Ashley must have heard her because they were rushing over to Lauren’s aid immediately.

“She’s not injured,” Lauren observed. “I think she’s just deprived of food.”

Ashley held her hands over Lucy’s stomach. Nothing seemed to happen.

“I can’t heal hunger.”

Normani turned her head. “Dinah, do we have any energy bars left?” The Tongan nodded and rummaged around in one of their backpack’s pockets. She tossed the energy bar to Normani which caused her to smile gratefully at her. She unwrapped the bar and began to slowly feed Lucy bits of the energy bar.

After a few seconds, Lucy chewed the pieces and then swallowed.

Lauren let out a sigh of relief. “At least she’s eating.” Lucy continued to eat the energy bar while Lauren waited for her to say something, anything to explain why she was like this, but she was too weak to formulate words.

“What do we do? Can Normani freeze the block off?” Ashley asked with uncertainty.

“It’ll damage her hands too,” Normani said.

Lauren’s eyes narrowed. “Well, we can’t just leave her.”

“Hey, what’s going on over there?”

Ally’s question brought the three Coates Academy girls back into reality. Lauren looked over at her three friends from Perdido Beach, who were also staring right back at her.

“That’s Lucy Vives. She’s the one I mentioned that we abandoned,” Normani explained. “She’s starving to death out here and she has concrete on her hands. It was Louis’s sick plan to capture all the kids with powers and stick their hands in concrete.” Lauren watched her friend wince. “I didn’t even know Lucy had powers.”

Dinah opened her mouth to say something, but Lauren was quick to interrupt. “You don’t get to say shit Hansen, because all of us feel guilty about it.”

The sound of an engine rumbling interrupted the exchange. Lauren quickly got up and ran to the road. A black SUV screeched to a stop right where Lauren stood. The windows rolled down to reveal Troye Sivan behind the wheel. “Hey there Lauren,” he greeted passively.

“Troye, hey!” Lauren was actually very glad to see the computer nerd of Coates Academy. Although he sided with Louis, Lauren figured it was out of fear and reluctance.

“Oh. Is that Lucy over there in the woods?”

“Yup.”

“She’s sick, in the head, you know. She wandered away from the school and-”

Lauren didn’t know everything in the entire world, but she did know that in that moment, this was all a trap. Zayn Malik rose from the third row of seats. He pointed his gun right at Camila, who just arrived on the scene. “Well, well, well, we meet again Jauregui. Except this time you’re not messing my head up with a lamp.”

“In my defense, you kind of deserved it.” Lauren shrugged. Zayn growled angrily and cocked his gun.

“Careful now, I have a gun and one wrong move and I’ll shoot your little girlfriend.”

Normani raised her hands up. Zayn pointed the gun at Lauren. “You try anything knock-off Elsa, and I’ll blow Jauregui’s brains out.” Normani’s eyes narrowed before she slowly brought her hands back to her sides.

“I have to help Lucy,” Lauren insisted.

Zayn laughed cruelly. “No one’s helping Vives, she’s done for. The stunt she pulled with Keana screwed her over.”

“We’re not going to leave her to die,” Camila seethed.

Zayn’s head whipped around to Camila, his shark grin caused Camila’s eyes to widened. Anger filled Lauren as she saw Zayn inflict fear on her so easily. “If I were you Camila,” he spat. "I wouldn’t push me. Louis wants you and your sister alive. But if you try your disappearing act, I’ll shoot all of your friends.”

Camila’s nostrils flared. “You’re a psychopath.”

“Oh that’s such a big word,” Zayn remarked dramatically. “I guess that’s why they call you Camila the Genius, even if you are a Perdido Beach bum. You know what else is a good word?” Camila bit her lip. “Retard.”

Camila flinched like Zayn had hit her. Lauren’s jaw clenched.

“My sister is a retard,” Zayn mimicked in a girly voice. “I wish I recorded that.” His devilish smile faded and he gestured to the door. “Alright back to business, get in, one by one.”

“Not without Lauren’s friend,” Dinah stated with a look of apprehension.

Zayn sighed dramatically. “Alright, fine, put her in the front seat with Troye.”

It took some effort, but with the help of Dinah and Normani, Lauren carried Lucy to the front seat of the SUV. She climbed into the back of the SUV with everyone else only to be met with a bunch of familiar faces. Ariana Grande, Shawn Mendes, Harry Styles, and Jade Thirlwall all sat in the back seats. The whole mission was to round up all of the rebellious freaks and bring them to be cemented. Lauren found that to be absolutely despicable.

No one said anything the whole drive back to Coates Academy. Ally Brooke, who sat next to her, was shaking like crazy. “You don’t have powers,” Lauren whispered. “They won’t hurt you.”

Ally only whimpered in response.

“None of that puppy whining allowed!” Zayn yelled, causing Ally to jump.

They pulled into Coates Academy’s driveway. Lauren couldn’t help but noticed that a lot had changed since she and her friends escaped about a week ago. The school looked like it had been shelled. One room was completely exposed, just from there, Lauren knew that was the history classroom that she was in when the adults disappeared. The front door was completely blown off too.

As the pulled to a stop, Calum and a few other Coates Academy kids that were so dirty Lauren couldn’t recognize who they were, approached the SUV. 

“Take me to Louis,” Lauren demanded as Zayn pulled the car door open and yanked her out. “I want to talk to him.”

“I’m sure you do, princess, but we gotta take care of some things first,” Zayn said, pushing Lauren towards the school.

Lauren scowled. “Fuck off, you’re Louis’s lapdog, I’m sure he wants to see me.”

Zayn laughed. “If it were up to me, I’d shoot all of you right now. But Louis has other plans for you.”

Zayn led them to the courtyard behind the main building. What was once Lauren’s favorite part of the school grounds became a prison. Two dozen Coates Academy’s students were lined up against the gazebo, tied to the railings and weighed down by the concrete blocks that Lucy had. Lauren recognized Keana, looking as dead as ever, and Vero, who seemed to be chewing on her own lip. Alexa was nowhere to be seen.

There was a cafeteria tray thrust in front of the rest of the Coates kids and they were eating off of it like wild animals.

Ally said a curse word that Lauren never imaged would come out of her mouth.

Lauren’s eyes couldn’t leave the group of kids mixing concrete in a wheelbarrow.

“It's easy,” Zayn explained gesturing to the concrete mixers. “Stick your hands in there and, presto! No more powers. It’s a perfect way to get rid of you freaks.”

Harry went first. Lauren could only watch as Harry stuck his hands in the concrete and shook in fear. After a few minutes, he pulled his hands out. He stumbled trying to stand to the side. Zayn only laughed at his misfortune.

Ariana’s hands were stuck in next. Lauren felt terrible watching Coates Academy’s smart good girl feel so helpless because of a big bully. The confidence that Ariana radiated throughout the the FAYZ was long gone.

Lauren was next. Zayn pushed her forward. “You know what? Maybe we should stick your face in. Because you can still use your powers with your eyes.” Lauren heard Camila audibly gasp and she prayed that she wouldn’t do anything to try and prevent that. 

Lauren stayed silent.

“What would happen if I stuck your pretty face in that concrete? I bet no one would ever want to kiss you again…” He pushed her forward, forcing her face nearly inches from the cement. “Sweet and gorgeous Lauren Jauregui, never to be loved again.”

She had it right there with Louis Tomlinson’s savage hound. She kicked Zayn right in the balls and smirked in satisfaction as he yowled in pain. But she wasn’t an idiot, this wasn’t an excuse to get out of things. She quickly stuck her hands in the concrete as Zayn recovered from her blow. Lauren pulled her hands out minutes later, smirking at the death glare that Zayn gave her.

He turned to Ally expectantly. The girl shook her head violently. “Please, I’m normal! I don’t have any powers.”

Zayn shoved her harshly and made his way towards Camila. “You’re next, genius.” Camila knelt down and stuck her hands in the concrete. Lauren watched as Camila cried and oh man it hurt like crazy to see someone she cared about cry. She kept mumbling Sofi’s name and trying to assure herself that everything would be fine.

Lauren’s concrete was hardening and it was getting to the point where she couldn’t stand up properly. She slumped against the wall next to Ariana. Both of them exchanged hesitant glances and expressions of defeat.

Camila’s concrete imprisonment was complete. Zayn roughly shoved her over to the wall where Sofi stood, stroking her doll’s hair absent-mindedly. 

Lauren didn’t have a chance to call out to her because Louis and Perrie arrived in full swagger. She hated the proud look on his face. She hated how he looked like he just won a battle. She hated how Perrie had her stupid look of indifference on her facial features. Louis and Lauren’s gaze met.

“Ah Lauren Jauregui, finally caught and put in her right place, with the dogs,” Louis sneered. “Let me shake your hand.” His eyes moved to her encased hands and he laughed loudly. “Oh wait, my bad!”

“I caught them,” Zayn said proudly.

Perrie rolled her eyes at Zayn. “Oh  _ good  _ boy. Do you want a treat?”

Camila cried loudly, falling over as she tried to stand up straighter. The concrete was too heavy for her small frame. But as Lauren looked over at her, she noticed that she was trying to do something. Her concrete covered hands were nudging Sofi. It all clicked in Lauren’s head. She had to keep the attention away from them.

“Hey  _ Princess _ Louis, you don’t want to put Ashley in there. My girl’s actually useful.” Louis turned to her, raising an eyebrow expectantly. Lauren could also see a hint of a scowl forming. “Yup, she’s a healer.”

“And I don’t know this because…?”

“Are you an idiot? Why would she tell you about her powers when you’re turning everyone into slaves?” Lauren shot back. She briefly glanced over at Camila, who was swaying her concrete hands and trying to bump Sofi’s doll.

Louis smiled. “Well, we can put that to the test. Zayn, give Ashley something to heal.”

Zayn, pleased with his order, pointed the gun at an unsuspecting Dinah Jane Hansen. He fired a shot right into the girl’s knee. Dinah screamed. Lauren never heard Dinah scream in pure agony and it was honestly terrifying. The tall girl fell over and Lauren almost fainted at the sight. Dinah’s gorgeous left leg, once muscular and absolutely perfect, looked half broken off and her knee was a bloody mess. Ally burst into tears and clung onto Normani like a scared little girl.

Camila was so startled that she slammed the block against Sofi so hard that she dropped her Barbie.

Perrie Edwards finally registered what was going on. “Zayn, the kid, you idiot!”

Lauren couldn’t help but smile proudly as fragile Camila Cabello knelt to the ground and brought her hand up to smash Sofi’s toy. She brought it down roughly with a loud exhale.

There was no flashing light or sound. But suddenly the concrete encasing Camila’s hands were gone.

So was the concrete block on Lauren’s hands.

And every other kid in the area lost the concrete block on their hands.

Louis and Perrie turned to each other with wide eyes. But before anyone could react, Louis bolted with Perrie right behind him.

Zayn still stood there in complete shock. Malice was evident in his eyes and he raised the gun that previously shot Dinah and aimed it at Sofi. He missed by a mile because of a blinding green light.

Zayn screamed in horror and dropped the gun. His arm was on fire and his flesh was burning to black in seconds. He bolted too, fanning his arms like crazy. Lauren turned to her right to find Harry Styles still with his hands in the air.

“Had to pay you back for saying our asses,” he commented with a grin.

Lauren smiled back. “Consider all dues paid now.”

Ashley rushed over to Dinah, cursing loudly as she knelt down next to Dinah. “Damn it Hansen, I’m not going to lose you too.” Dinah choked on her breath. Her eyes were watery because of the pain. 

Camila darted over to her best friend and clutched her hand. “Cheechee,” she breathed out.

“Chancho,” Dinah croaked. “You really saved the day, didn’t you?”

Camila bit down on her lip.

“That’s my best friend. A real hero.” Dinah blacked out a few moments later. Camila burst into tears and Lauren rushed to her side, wrapping her arms around her. The brunette relaxed in Lauren’s hold and she kissed the top of Camila’s head comfortingly.

Ashley kept her hands on Dinah for a few moments and then stood back up. “She’ll be okay. Hopefully she’ll wake up an hour or so from now.”

The girls crowded around Dinah sighed in relief. Normani was the loudest surprisingly. Not that Normani didn’t usually have a loud sigh, but Lauren expected Camila to be the most relieved that Dinah would live.

“So,” Harry spoke, towering over the group of girls that knelt by Dinah. “What do we do now?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Normani smirked. “We’re taking back Perdido Beach. And this time we have a group of Coates Academy kids with us.”

“We’ll need a speech or something,” Jade commented. “Something to rile the kids up.”

Ashley shrugged. “Well I’m gonna heal the hands of the kids.”

Camila looked up at Lauren. “Lo, you can do it.”

Lauren’s eyes widened. “Hold up, what?” A whole bunch of eyes were on her and she immediately felt nervous under the spotlight. Sure, she was a pretty good public speaker. But she was trying to convince a bunch of kids she  _ abandoned  _ to join up with her. This wasn’t going to be easy. “God, okay. I can try.” Lauren detached herself from Camila and stood up. Ashley already had a line forming in front of her for hand healing and the kids were hungry too, judging by their scrawny bodies.

Lauren inhaled sharply and made her way towards one of the picnic tables in the courtyard. She climbed on the table and stood up. “Hey, can I um, have everyone’s attention?” she called out.

Surprisingly the kids quieted down, except most of them were looking at her with contempt and disgust.

“I’m pretty sure I’m the last person you want to see right now. Actually, fourth to last person you want to see. Nine days ago I left you guys to deal with Louis’s wrath.”

Murmurs of agreement broke out in the crowd.

“That was a shitty thing for me to do, I’ll be honest. But you know what’s crazy? I haven’t taken off my Coates Academy blazer once. I wear it like a badge as a reminder that this is who I am and where I came from. We’ve all done bad things but that doesn’t make us bad, does it? Just because Normani Kordei couldn’t keep her grades up during eighth grade doesn’t mean she’s a bad person. Just because Ariana Grande shoplifted about a thousand dollars worth of cosmetics doesn’t mean she’s a bad person. Just because Justin Bieber drove under the influence that one night in San Diego doesn’t make him a bad person. Just because Ashley Frangipane punched a kid so hard his nose broke and it’s still crooked to this day doesn’t make her a bad person. Just because I drank underage and made out with a few girls at a party doesn’t make me a bad person. We all just screwed up somehow, right?”

Silence. Maybe Lauren was actually getting to them.

“Nine days ago some bad stuff happened to all of us. We went to classes expecting that it would be a normal day. Maybe if we were lucky we’d get an extra helping of mashed potatoes for dinner. We didn’t expect for everything to go to shit and have a  _ tyrant  _ take over the school. Some of us developed some weird things that definitely didn’t come with puberty.”

Her last statement got some people to laugh.

“I’ll be honest. I’m scared. In the past nine days I almost got killed by a flying trash can, I was made a firefighter, I got beat up by a bully, I buried a little girl, I found a baby dead in someone’s home, I watched as a newly turned eighteen year old disappeared, I got hit in the head and dragged away, I got ravaged by a coyote, and I survived getting my hands covered in concrete. I’m sure your experiences are just as terrible.”

She heard the person nearest to hers stomach growl. Lauren bit her lip. She was hungry too and that certainly wasn’t any help.

“We’re a few miles away from a grocery store and I promise my first step to making it up to you will be to get you guys all fed.”

Everyone cheered at that, even her friends, who definitely had been getting more food than the Coates Academy kids.

“We’re not going to let Louis or Zayn stop us. We’re going to fight back.”

“Hell yeah we are!” A voice called from the front of Ashley’s line.

“There will be no line between freak and normal. If you have powers, we’ll need you. If you don’t, we’ll need you. Coates kids, Perdido Beach kids, we’re together now. We’re all in this together.” Lauren stopped when she heard Camila burst into the High School Musical song. She sent her a disapproving look which caused Camila to pout in return. “We’re going to survive, we’re going to be brave, we’re not going to give up hope. We are brothers and sisters now and we’re going to free everyone from the evil known as Louis Tomlinson. Who’s with me?”

The eruption of cheers after Lauren finished her speech gave her all the confidence she needed. She just won over two dozen people that probably hated her guts moments ago, maybe it was because of her ability. But realization struck her then, she didn’t need to use her powers. She just had to trust herself. That information caused Lauren to smile widely for what was probably the first time that day.

* * *

The Mayor’s Office - 74 Hours, 10 Minutes

“I’m so sorry about your house, Mila,” Normani said, wrapping her arms around Camila. The two of them and Sofi were in King Louis’s old office, it now belonged to Lauren unofficially but technicalities didn’t matter at the moment. Lauren was reluctant to take office because she didn’t want to become a second Louis. Camila believed that the town needed a symbol of leadership and Lauren was the right person to provide that.

Camila grimaced. “It was hard to see. My childhood home all up in flames. I lost literally everything. I doubt I’ll ever get to find any cool socks like mine ever again.” She hugged Normani back with a small sigh. Her friend pulled away, biting her lip in thought.

“You’re always welcome to stay at the firehouse with Dinah, Lauren, and I,” Normani offered. “It’s a little messy because Dinah’s a slob. But we can clean up just for you.”

Camila had to laugh. “Dinah and I are the messiest people I know. It’ll be more you and Lauren cleaning up after us.” Normani burst out into laughter as well. It was nice for the two of them to bond. While Lauren and Dinah were on shaky terms, at least the two other counterparts of their  _ relationships  _ were getting along well. “Besides Ally offered me her place, when she disappears…”

Normani’s face darkened.

“Or if. I really hope it’s if because I wouldn’t mind living with her at all,” Camila corrected herself.

Normani seemed satisfied with that answer. “Still, I can’t believe that Lauren won’t take office. She told me she wants to give it to Harry. But after that speech she gave up at Coates, I don’t think anyone will take no for an answer from her.”

She found herself smiling at that. She’d be lying if she said Lauren’s public speaking voice wasn’t hot. It was very hot and it made Camila feel so lucky that sophisticated and eloquent Lauren was into her, dorky and weird, but still considered a genius.

A crackle came from the other side of the room. Camila’s ears perked up but she quickly found herself calming down when she realized it was just Sofi eating a bag of Rice Chex. Sofi liked her cereal plain, no milk or anything, which was a relief because who knew how long milk would last in the FAYZ.

“So, uh, why are we here?” Camila asked Normani. “And where’s Lo?”

Normani stiffened at her question. She reached a hand up and scratched the back of her neck nervously. “We have something to show you.” Lauren opened the door and closed it quietly behind her. She didn’t smile at Camila, or even acknowledge Sofi’s presence.

The green-eyed beauty plopped down in the chair previously occupied by Louis, clutching a DVD case. “Camz, there’s something you need to see. And I really don’t think that Sofi should see it.”

Camila tensed up a bit. “I don’t understand.”

Lauren turned to Normani, eyes looking like they were pleading her friend for help. “I was hoping Normani could sit with Sofi in the other room.” Her eyebrows rose at Lauren’s request. “Not for long!”

“That sounds ominous,” she replied. She stood up and made her way to Sofi. She whispered some calming things into her little sister’s ear and after a little bit of a struggle, she convinced her sister to go over to Normani.

Once her sister and Normani left, Lauren turned to Camila expectantly. “Yesterday when we got everyone back into Perdido Beach and fed. I sent Normani and Ariana to the power plant to get two things. First, a bunch of automatic weapons from the guardhouse.”

“Machine guns?” Camila said in hopes of clarification.

“Yeah.” Camila grimaced at the thought of kids under the age of eighteen having control of guns. If adults could hardly control themselves around weapons, who knows what kids would do with them? “But we’re not going to use them. We just don’t want the other side getting their hands on them.”

“So now we have an arms race.”

Lauren was taken aback by her tone and her eyes narrowed. “You want me to leave them for Louis to get?”

Camila flushed in embarrassment, realizing she may have offended Lauren. “No, I wasn’t criticizing. Just the thought of sixteen and seventeen year olds with machine guns isn’t a happy thought.”

Lauren relented, breaking out into a grin. “It’s just like the Hunger Games. Who knew we’d be reliving that book series?”

“Actually, the tributes in the Games didn’t have any guns. They all killed each other with swords, knives, axes, and bows and arrows.”

“No need to get all technical with me, nerd,” Lauren teased. Camila swatted her arm playfully causing the older girl to burst out into giggles.

Camila dropped her playful tone. “So what else is there?” She was almost afraid to ask that question, because Lauren’s face dropped afterwards, which only meant that the DVD wasn’t good either.

“I’ve been thinking...Well, Normani told me of something she observed the day we found Sofi at the power plant. She noticed that the screen projected an image that looked a lot like the barrier of the FAYZ. A ten mile radius and the center being the power plant.”

Camila’s throat felt dry. “I really should get back to Sofi.” Lauren reached over and clutched Camila’s hand, as if she was silently pleading Camila to stay there.

“Normani went through the security footage and she found out some things, some things that involved Sofi being in the power plant when the FAYZ happened,” Lauren trailed off. “That’s why you were so adamant on getting Sofi away from us when we got back to Clifftop. You knew all along and you didn’t tell us.”

“I didn’t know if I could trust you,” Camila blurted out. “We just met you guys and you came from Coates Academy and we didn’t know what your motives were-”

“Did you tell Dinah the truth?”

Camila shook her head. “No.”

Lauren only smiled sadly and made her way to the TV in the office. She opened the player and slid the DVD in. “The sound quality’s pretty bad. But it’s good enough to show what happened.” Lauren pressed play.

Camila looked up at the screen. The camera had an overhead view of the control room. Five adults, three men and two women were looking at several computer screens. With the exception of Alejandro Cabello, who chatted aimlessly with another woman in the room. In the corner, far away from the rest of the adults was Sofi Cabello, playing with her dolls and tuning out the entire world.

“Here we go,” Lauren muttered.

A loud Klaxon was heard, startling everyone in the room. Everyone jumped up from what they were doing and rushed to the monitors. Her father sent a nervous glance to her little sister, but left to join his fellow co-workers. Surprisingly everyone seemed to remain calm despite the wild and panicked look on everyone’s faces.

A second alarm went off.

A strobe warning light started flashing.

Sofi started rocking frantically and putting her hands over her ears. Camila bit down on her lip as she watched her father’s co-workers press buttons, pull switches, and shout orders. Her father was hunched over a big instruction manual. Sofi started screaming which caused Camila to flinch.

“I don’t know if I can watch this,” she admitted.

Sofi jumped to her feet and rushed to her father, tugging and pulling on his arm, but he pushed her away. Sofi went sprawling against a chair, staring at a monitor that continued to flash red violently. It was the number fourteen.

“Code one-four,” Camila said. “I heard my dad say it one time. It’s the code for core meltdown. He used to joke about it. Code one-one meant minor trouble, code one-two, you worry, code one-three, you call the governor, code one-four, you pray. The next stage, code-five is obliteration.”

Sofi pulled her hands from her ears. The Klaxon was relentless. But all of a sudden, the tape flashed and was brought to several seconds of static. 

When the picture was brought back, Sofi was alone and in complete silence.

She stopped crying, stood up, and walked back over to her dolls.

“You’ll notice that the time on the tape says November tenth, ten eighteen A.M. The exact time all of the adults disappeared.”

Camila looked over at Lauren tentatively. “So, what are you trying to say?”

“Sofi caused the FAYZ,” Lauren stated flatly.

Camila wanted to cry. She wanted to scream and burst into tears. “She didn’t mean it!” Camila covered her mouth to prevent herself from letting out a loud sob. “It’s not her fault. She doesn’t know what she’s doing. She doesn’t--”

“I know, Camz.”

Camila found anger building up in her. “You can’t blame her, Lauren.” The bite in her tone surprised both her and Lauren.

“Blame her? Camz,” Lauren pleaded, scooting the large mayor chair towards her. “I think you’re overlooking something. There was a nuclear meltdown.”

Camila gasped. “Wait, shit, you’re right. She saved everyone from being obliterated!”

Lauren smiled. “Well, I’m not too impressed on the way she saved the town. But really, what can you do to stop a nuclear meltdown?” Suddenly, Lauren’s lips curved upwards into a wide grin.

She furrowed her brows at her. “What’re you smiling about now?” Lauren then burst out laughing causing Camila to scowl and scoot slightly further away from her.

“I just figured out something before so-called Camila the Genius.”

Camila stuck her middle finger up at her.

“Enjoy it while it lasts. It might be the only time.”

Lauren gasped, putting her hand over her heart in mock-offense. “Camz, I’m smart!”

She raised a brow. “Well Lo, did you figure out that the mutations came before the FAYZ? The FAYZ wouldn’t have happened without the mutations--” She began to explain, but she was cut off by Lauren’s hand being shoved in front of her mouth. Camila whined and licked Lauren’s hand which caused her to shake it away in disgust.

Lauren glared at her. “You’re so gross, Camz.”

“Says the one that tried to feed me pudding with her fingers.”

“I was trying to be a good girlfriend!”   


Camila’s eyes widened. Lauren must have realized what she had done and bit down hard on her lip, averting her gaze from her. “Did you just say…?” Lauren didn’t want to acknowledge her. “Lo.”

Lauren shook her head. “It doesn’t matter Camz, I just made an assumption.”

Camila found herself laughing at that. “Lauren, are you for real?” Lauren’s eyes widened, probably assuming that she meant something bad. “Lauren, I like you. I’ve liked you since you had that inappropriate thought about me on the highway. You’re one of the only people that seems to get me. I thought Dinah was my person, but after I met you I realized that  _ you’re  _ my person. I want to be that person for you too. You and Ashley have a strong bond that I’m really jealous of, but that’s a story for another day. And I was so happy when you kissed me and I kissed back. Everything felt right in the world.”

Lauren was blushing profusely. “I, um, I feel the same way. I’m not really good with talking about feelings. I just let things happen, you know? I just thought we were kissing casually.”

That statement caused Camila to giggle. She reached over and cupped her cheek, planting a small kiss on top of her nose. She found herself staring into beautiful pools of green that never failed to make her heart swell. Bringing their foreheads together, she never broke their stare.

“Be my girlfriend, please? Officially?” Lauren requested, breathing warm air against Camila’s lips.

“Lo, what if everything goes to shit the next few days and I lose you,” Camila mumbled. “I want to but we know what’s coming. And I don’t want to jinx it and end up alone after I just got together with literally the coolest girl out there.

“I don’t care. If I’m going to die because of Louis and his entourage, I want my last days to be spent knowing that Camila Cabello is mine.”

Camila kissed her. She kissed back. Her heart was soaring. How tragic and cliche that she was going through a typical high school romance moment with butterflies in her stomach when they were currently in an apocalypse.

Lauren pulled away moments later. “Is that a yes?”

Camila nodded. “Do I get any perks as First Lady?”

She scowled, rolling her eyes at her suggestion. “No, because I’m not taking the job as mayor. I can’t do it, I’ll mess everything up. You’ll get perks as my girlfriend.”

Her girlfriend was insane, that’s what Camila concluded. If she knew what was best for Perdido Beach, she’d take the role of mayor. Convincing her to grow a pair would require a lot of assistance from others.

“So…” Camila trailed off. “What do we do now?”

Lauren smirked. Camila immediately rolled her eyes, she didn’t even have to hear any of her girlfriend’s thoughts to know what she was thinking. “Well since, Sofi isn’t here…”

“Hoe don’t do it,” Camila grumbled.

“Aw, come on! I gotta get to second base eventually. And if we’re going to die I’d rather not-” Camila didn’t let Lauren finish. She just crashed their lips together once more.


	10. A PRELUDE TO A BATTLE

Perdido Beach - 36 Hours, 37 Minutes

One of the perks of eating lunch alone was that Lauren could blast her music and Dinah couldn’t say anything negative about the song she chose. So “Dark Paradise” was her only company that day. Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen much of Dinah around lately. She’d pop in from time to time to say hello but according to Normani, she spent most of her time with her or Camila.

Lauren even made extra soup just in case Dinah showed up. But if her blonde friend didn’t show, she’d take the extra soup over to Camila and Ally.

The door to the fire station’s kitchen swung open. Normani stepped in, looking haggard and exhausted. “Lana Del Rey? Nice.”

Lauren blushed a bit and turned down the volume. “Yeah, really gets you in the mood.” She dropped her spoon, wincing slightly as it made a clanking sound as it hit the table. “So, did you find anything?”

“If Ashley’s anywhere in town, she definitely doesn’t want to see us,” Normani answered. Lauren’s heart sank. She hadn’t seen Ashley since they arrived back in Perdido Beach and ushered the kids to get fed by Justin and his Big Macs. It wasn’t that she missed her. Okay, maybe she did. But it was so un-Ashley like to suddenly not burst in at random moments and scare the shit out of Lauren. Hell if Lauren had a dime for every time that Ashley popped into her room uninvited, she’d buy herself a mansion. “I talked to Jesy and she only saw Ashley once since we got back.”

Lauren’s lips pursed. “I mean, what could have we done wrong to get Ashley mad at us? I can’t recall anything that might have upset her.”

Normani made a weird face which piqued Lauren’s curiosity, but she chose to not comment on it.

“So, what depressing song is this?”

“‘Dark Paradise.’ One of my favorites actually.”

Normani chuckled dryly. “What an accurate description of the FAYZ. What else have you got queued up?”

Lauren looked at her iPod. “Um, let’s see, ‘Cruel World,’ ‘High by the Beach,’ ‘Freak,’ ‘West Coast,’ and ‘Born to Die.’” She let out a shaky breath. “Man, did I really just create a playlist for the FAYZ?”

They shared a bitter laugh.

“Yeah, I’d say it’s a ‘Cruel World.’ I’ve been looking for a blue haired girl with healing hands and teaching kids how to use machine guns,” Normani scoffed.

“How did that go, by the way?” Lauren wondered aloud. “I’m assuming no one got hurt.”

“Four guys can handle a gun well.” Normani shrugged her shoulders. “But, I almost got shot. Kid named Tom started shooting like crazy and I jumped into a pile of dog shit.”

Lauren guffawed, slamming her hand down hard on the wooden table. Normani joined in her rambunctious laughter. It was nice to laugh again with her best friend. The past two days, the two of them had been crazy busy trying to prepare everyone for battle.

“Why don’t I push you in a pile of dog shit?”

Lauren’s eyes widened and she shook her head in disagreement. “You wouldn’t.”

Normani grinned. “I would. Because I don’t think I can unsee you shoving your tongue down Camila Cabello’s throat in the mayor’s office--”

Lauren winced when Normani brought that back up. It was a little embarrassing to have her best friend walk in on her making out with someone. It was still PG-13, Lauren hadn’t even touched or groped anything yet. But she supposed that in Normani Kordei’s eyes, it was a crime to kiss her own girlfriend.

Girlfriend. She couldn’t believe that she actually had one. Lauren was never a person who liked to commit to relationships. It was more so because she was afraid of them. Lauren was a person who loved easily. If she found someone that she really connected with, she’d open up and let herself be vulnerable to them. Lauren knew for a fact that she loved two people the most. Lauren loved Normani, and Lauren loved Ashley.

Another thing she knew for a fact, Camila was bound to join that list. It was too early in the relationship to say anything like that in some people’s opinions. Two days were too soon to profess her love. Well it was actually thirty seven hours, twenty nine minutes, and seventeen seconds, not that Lauren was counting.

“Hey Laur, you good?” Normani snapped her fingers in front of Lauren’s face, bringing her back to reality.

“Yeah, sorry.” Lauren smiled sheepishly. “Anyways I don’t know what’s holding King Louis the twentieth back. It’s been two days, what’s keeping him?”

“What’s the rush? The more time we have, the better prepared we are.”

“Ally could disappear tomorrow night. I don’t want her last possible few days to be in anticipation for war. The poor girl is the sweetest and purest thing in the FAYZ, she deserves more than to feel anxious.”

She didn’t miss the way Normani tensed up when she mentioned Ally’s possible disappearing. She didn’t want to assume things, but the way Normani looked when mentioning Ally really had her wondering things. Normani and Ally clicked over the past few days, similarly to how Normani and Dinah did, but this was different.

“I don’t want to think about that.”

“Me neither.”

“I just wish we knew what was going on up there on the hill.”

Normani raised a brow. “Like spy on them?”

She shrugged her shoulders in response. “Yeah. I mean this is all making me anxious. Louis has telekinesis for crying out loud! But maybe we should bring the fight to them. We have guns, we have people who can drive, and people with useful powers. Not the girl who disappears when she’s embarrassed.”

Her best friend scrunched her nose in thought. “Well, let’s think here.” She lifted her hand up and began to count on her fingers. “We have me, possibly Dinah if she quits moping around, your power is pretty useful, Vero has her gravity thing, Ariana has her super speed, Lucy’s teleporting has improved and could be useful, Harry’s laser hands, Shawn’s super strength, anyone else?”

Lauren hummed in thought. “Keana?”

Normani narrowed her eyes. “She hasn’t been doing so well. She’s still sick and Ashley’s not here to make it better.”

She stayed silent for a moment, weighing her options. “I think it might be enough.”

The sound of clattering and clanking interrupted their conversation. Vero came waltzing in with a lazy smirk. She moved over and offered her fist for Lauren to bump. Still rather confused, she bumped her fist. Vero did the same to Normani.

“‘Sup guys? Dinah sent me.”

Lauren sent a glance towards Normani before turning back to Vero. “Okay, and?”

“Liam came back into town looking all haggard and beat up. Dinah told me to tell you that she’s following him home and needs your help.”

“Thanks for telling us Vero, we’ll go check it out,” Normani thanked Vero, sending her a small smile. Vero just grinned and waltzed back out. Once she was gone, Normani leaned over to whisper into her ear, “I swear that girl’s high right now.”

They met up with Dinah in front of Niall and Liam’s shared house. She smiled at Lauren appreciatively but when she saw Normani, she hugged her tightly. Normani hugged her back and squeezed her. Neither of them seemed to want to pull away.

Lauren huffed and knocked harshly on Liam’s door while Normani and Dinah had their big gay love fest.

“Come in, morons,” Liam called sluggishly. Lauren swung the door open, causing her two other friends to break from the hug quickly. She stepped inside to find Liam sprawled on the couch with a can of beer in hand.

Dinah let out an audible squeak. “Is that beer?”

Liam chuckled, cracking open the can in his hand. “Yeah, you want one? Might as well share before Lauren kills me.”

Dinah seemed to contemplate it for a moment. “You know what? Toss me one.” Normani stared at her in shock as Liam tossed Dinah a beer can. She cracked it open and took a deep gulp. “That feels so fucking good,” she rasped out.

“Where’s Niall?” Lauren asked.

“With them.”

“With who?”

Liam grunted. “Zayn. The blue haired bitch, Ashley, oh and some talking dogs.” He gestured to his wounded state and tattered clothing. “It was the dogs that did this to me. Ripped a hole in my guts and ate my thigh.”

“Why would Ashley willingly go off with Zayn?” Lauren ran a hand through her dark tresses. “She hates him. That makes no sense.”

Liam took a big gulp of his drink, Dinah did the same.

“You wanna see?” He belched which caused Lauren to feel very uncomfortable in that very moment. He stood up and began to pull his tattered shirt off.

Normani cursed loudly.

Lauren gasped.

And Dinah? Well, she practically vomited all of the alcohol she just put in her system on the floor.

Liam’s body had patches of gravel covering his chest and belly. As he breathed, the gravel rose and fell, proving that the the rock was apart of him. The gravel was muddy water colored, and it reminded her of a disgusting pond that was located not far from her house in Santa Barbara.

Liam grimaced. “I know it’s spreading and it feels warm.”

Normani blinked. “How did this happen?”

“Were you not listening? The dogs started eating me alive and this stuff filled in and replaced everything.”

“Holy shit,” Lauren breathed out.

“I know you all hate me. So either kill me or get out. I have things to take care of.”

The three of them did not wish to stay in there any longer. They exited Liam’s house in silence. Lauren was still in disbelief that she even witnessed something so horrific. She’d have to ask Camila about the mutations and the possibility of gravel being used as a replacement of human parts. Maybe it was some kind of power that neither she or Louis discovered yet.

Dinah stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “Suddenly poofing doesn’t sound so bad, you know?” When Normani gave her a dirty look, she seemed to recoil. “I mean imagine having rocks as body parts, that’s terrifying.”

“Luckily for you, you have a few years to worry about that,” Lauren shot back playfully.

Dinah smiled. She actually smiled for the first time in days. “Yeah, let’s just hope I don’t end up killing myself before then.”

* * *

Perdido Beach - 26 Hours, 47 Minutes

For a late night meeting, surprisingly lots of people were eager to show up. It was the final war council of the FAYZ. The final preparations were being made for the pending attack from Louis and his friends. Lauren presided over the meeting and insisted that Camila sit near her. She was more than happy to assist her girlfriend in any way.

Normani, Dinah, and Ally were also there. Although Camila didn’t understand why Ally would be, because that girl was powerless and had no reason to be in a room talking about fighting others.

Then again, this meeting took place in a church.

Also in the room were Jesy Nelson, Bea Miller, Justin Bieber, who were considered the important town workers. From Coates Academy were Ariana Grande; a girl named Veronica Iglesias, who actually went by Vero; and Lucy Vives, who kept staring at Lauren in a way that really pissed Camila off. Normani’s militia that consisted of Shawn Mendes, Harry Styles, and a few other boys and girls with powers from Coates Academy were also present.

“Louis is a guy that needs to win and I know this from experience. He’s even tried to outdo me in art class. And as you know, drawings of girls with big naked tits always wins over a depressing ‘I hate myself’ and a bunch of gray clouds.”

Camila found herself giggling at that, but Lucy was giggling louder. That immediately killed her mood.

“Why do I feel like he’s going to attack soon? Louis got a hold of a bunch of our birth certificates. He knows that the next person that’s going to poof is Ally.” Lauren turned to look at Ally, who had a solemn expression, but she nodded her head at Lauren to continue. “He knows that Ally is a close friend of mine, of a lot of us actually, and he’ll consider that as a weakness to make us more vulnerable to attack.”

Ally stood up suddenly. “Um Lauren? Can I say something?”

Lauren smiled at Ally. “Of course.” She took a step back so Ally could go to the podium. Unfortunately, Ally was a little too short to fit the microphone so Normani rushed over to get her a chair to stand on.

Camila had to laugh. This was the tallest Ally had ever looked in that moment.

“I know my birthday is tomorrow. And that’s a reason why Louis might want to attack, but it also means it’s my last day here.” A few shouts of sympathetic remarks broke out and Ally rose her hands up to calm them down. “I don’t know if there’s a way out of it. But as we’ve seen with Tori Kelly and a few other Coates Academy kids, there may not even be a way out. I want you guys to keep fighting. Don’t let my inevitable doom stop you guys. You have all showed me kindness and respect and made me feel so much more of a person than my family or my church ever has.”

Camila bit harshly down on her lip. She wasn’t going to cry, nope. There was no room for crying in a freaking war council.

Ally smiled sadly. “As crazy as these past eleven days have been, I made a new family with you guys. And I know my family is strong enough to stop a king, a queen, and their dog. So I want to thank you. Thank you for making these last days count. May the Lord be with you all.”

Just as Ally stepped down from the podium, Dinah engulfed her in a tight hug. Normani moved to join them. Camila stood up and found herself making eye contact with Ally. The tears beginning to stream down her face were enough to make her want to come over and join the group hug. Lauren soon joined them too. No one said a word as the five friends hugged. Perhaps, they watched in awe that five friends that previously had no clue of some of each other’s existence eleven days ago could love each other and form such a strong bond so easily.

They eventually pulled away. Camila watched as Ally smiled at all of them fondly. Lauren wrapped an around around Camila and kissed her cheek before returning to the podium. She smiled giddily, feeling the spot where Lauren’s lips touched her and returned to her own seat.

“Let’s talk about threats. We’ve made it clear that Louis and Perrie are the biggest ones. As for Zayn, Harry barbecued his arm, so who knows what’s going on with that. Liam, we don’t know where he stands because he’s messed up. And we don’t know where Niall is,” Lauren listed. “Also, the loss of Ashley is a big blow. Has no one seriously seen her since two days ago?”

No one said anything. Lauren sighed very loudly. “Great, beautiful, wonderful,” she spat.

“Next thing I wanna talk about,” Lauren continued. “If we win this big showdown, who’s going to take over? Camila can’t because she’s taking care of Sofi. Bea has the little kids. Jesy has the clinic. Justin has McDonald’s and I don’t know anyone else who’s dealt with Louis and would be a good leader besides Normani or Dinah.”

Ariana burst out laughing. “Lauren, honey, everyone’s looking to you to be the leader.”

Lauren scowled at Ariana. “Ari, I can’t--”

“Yes, yes, you can. You led the first successful defiance against Louis. You defied him again when he tried to kidnap you. You saved the other kids of Coates Academy. I don’t see anyone else more qualified for leader,” Ariana explained. She waved her arms excitedly to try and get the crowd to agree with her. The people present burst into applause, Camila allowed herself to join in which caused her girlfriend turn her head and glare at her.

Lauren flipped her hair. “Alright, alright, I get it! I’ll consider it.”

Ariana grinned, placing her hands on her hips in triumph before sitting down once again.

“So to go over everything...We need everyone in position. Normani has her militia prepared and she’ll give them the go-ahead. Lucy, we need you on stand-by and to continue practicing your teleporting. Ariana, you’re on communications duty. Vero, you’ll stick with me the entire time unless told otherwise. Dinah, your job is to protect the daycare.” Camila couldn’t help but frown, realizing that she wasn’t on that list. She silently wondered if Lauren found her weak or unworthy of actually fighting. Maybe she thought she was useless.

Slowly people began to file out of the church, Camila got up too. But before she could descend down the stairs off the stage, Lauren grabbed her arm and spun her around.

“Where are you going?” Lauren asked in a soft childlike voice.

“I was just going to go check on Sofi, why?” Camila noticed her girlfriend bite down on her lip and look down at her feet. “I noticed you didn’t assign me a job. Did I do anything wrong?”

She shook her head. “Far from it, Camz. I have something special for you.”

Camila’s eyebrows rose.

“I want you and Sofi in a safe place and far away from all the fighting.”

Camila opened her mouth to object, “but--”

“But nothing,” Lauren interrupted her. “I need you up there.” She pointed to the top of the church. Camila followed her gaze with no idea to where she was pointing in the first place.

“If this is your messed up way of saying you want me in Heaven, Jauregui,” Camila teased. Lauren just smiled and grabbed her hand, leading her towards the back room. She remembered that Ally mentioned that the church had a very cool steeple that she sometimes went up to and reflected on her day. They climbed the stairs together until they reached the steeple. Camila was in awe by the beauty. Perdido Beach looked normal. The yellow McDonald’s sign glowed to her right and the rest of the town was only illuminated by some street and house lights.

Lauren came up from behind her. “If things were normal, I’d have our first date up here. We’d have a nice picnic and you could point out to me the cool things in town and I’d tell you about my experiences at home. And we’d just...enjoy each other’s company.”

Her heart melted at how sweet Lauren was. She leaned back against her. “The space is kind of tight, but I’m sure we would make do with it.” She heard Lauren’s breath hitch, which caused Camila to smile wider. “You know, maybe when the battle’s over we could have that date.”

“I’d like that,” she answered, after a moment of silence. Camila stood back up straight and turned her head to look at Lauren, who now shifted to stand next to her against the church’s giant bell. Two sleeping bags were laid out in the small area. Camila noticed that there was a paper bag and a pair of binoculars. “There’s food in case you get hungry. And the view is nice, you can watch all the action,” Lauren said stiffly.

Camila frowned. “How am I supposed to sit here and watch as my friends fight each other with guns and superpowers?”

Lauren shrugged. She fucking shrugged like it meant nothing.

“Do I at least get a gun?”

“Absolutely not.”

Camila grimaced, trying her best to try and understand why Lauren was doing this. “Will you have a gun?”

“Obviously,” Lauren said. “I can’t be expected to win every battle with my pretty green eyes.”

Camila didn’t find her comment funny. She just crossed her arms over her chest and scowled.

“Camz, I just, I need you to and Sofi to be safe. Sofi is arguably the most important person in the FAYZ, considering her powers. And on a totally selfish note, I want you to be safe because I don’t know what I’d do with myself if you died.”

She furrowed her brows. “That’s so cliche and bullshit. I feel like you’re not telling me the truth.”

Lauren sighed agitatedly, running a hand through her hair. But Camila wouldn’t back down. She refused to be considered weak and helpless. She wanted to fight too. Not just for the town, but to prove Lauren that Camila Cabello could be badass like Ashley Frangipane or Lucy Vives. No, she wasn’t jealous of them, no way.

“Listen, babe, when you hurt or kill someone. You get this guilt that you can’t seem to get rid of. It’s like survivor’s guilt. Take a look at Dinah, she didn’t directly kill Madison, but she still felt like it was her fault -- well, more Ashley’s -- but she blamed herself too. And Ashley? We know something’s up with her.” Lauren’s face fell slowly. “I know she must have done something in the mine. Because she’s definitely lost it.”

Camila nodded. She understood where Lauren came from, but it still didn’t answer her question. “So, what does this have to do with me?”

“I don’t want you to lose your mind for hurting someone either,” she admitted sheepishly. “I want the people I care about to not deal with that.”

“But you’re letting Normani fight, and you care about her!” Camila yelled, feeling herself getting very angry. She couldn’t believe the nonsense leaving her girlfriend’s mouth. “You’re letting the others fight, it’s not fair.”

Lauren frowned. “You’re not like the others.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you.”

Camila was silent. Her ears rang as they echoed the words that left her. Part of this seemed so surreal. They’d only known each other for eleven days, kissed after about five days since their first meeting, started dating about three days later, and now Lauren loved her. It felt too soon for her to be saying that. Especially since Camila found love to be so difficult and so complex. She never loved anyone before.

Did she love Lauren?

A thousand times yes, there was no point in trying to deny it.

Camila threw her arms around her girlfriend, which took her by surprise as she stumbled but got her balance back and returned the hug. She buried her face into Lauren’s neck and allowed herself to be overwhelmed by Lauren’s flowery body spray. Tears began to fall down her cheeks, surprising Camila greatly.

“I love you too,” she finally said.

Lauren audibly gasped, tightening her grip around her. She peppered kisses on the top of Camila’s head. “God, I was so afraid I scared you off because it was too soon.”

Camila laughed. “It is too soon. But honestly, it’s felt like the days have been a lot longer than they actually are. So I guess it’s okay.”

“There are no parents to tell us otherwise, right?”

“Ally.” Camila grinned. “She’s kind of like the mom of our group.”

“Well yeah, but she’s also someone who’ll be like all for young love and that crap.”

She pulled away from Lauren, but still allowed herself to continue touching her by grasping onto her hands. Their gaze met, but neither moved in to close the gap between them. Camila figured that tomorrow would be intense. Probably the worst day of her life, if Lauren, Normani, or Dinah got hurt or if Ally poofed. So many what if’s hung on the tip of her tongue but she chose not to say anything. Because what could be worse than the fact that she would be watching her friends and enemies fought each other brutally and not being able to do anything?

She resolved to defy Lauren. If things got intense, she’d leave her designated hiding spot and go help. She just hoped Lauren would forgive her in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally have no motivation to continue the text fic because I'm lazy so I'll be deleting it, sorry! But to compensate I'm cooking up some other works, both take place during a different historical era and are Assassin's Creed inspired (our girls are Assassins or Templars, ayyee.) I'm a nerd, I know. It'll focus on the dynamic of all the group members as a whole rather than romantic relationships, but there will still be some that aren't too important to the story because....lesbians.
> 
> In other news, it's Thanksgiving Break so I'll be pumping out at least one to two chapters this weekend, so stay tuned for that.
> 
> Also thank you soo much for reading and supporting this story? All Kudos and reads are appreciated and gives me slightly more confidence in my writing. :')


	11. THE THANKSGIVING BATTLE (PART ONE)

Perdido Beach - 03 Hours, 15 Minutes

Lauren gave Ally a sketch of the girl standing on the beach when the sun was setting as a birthday present. Ally nearly burst into tears when Lauren offered her the gift and said that Lauren was one of the kindest and most generous people ever. They hugged for a long time after that. 

Passing the day still wasn’t easy. Everyone in town was anxious. Justin still kept the McDonald’s open and offered extra waffle burgers to any kid who felt scared or anxious for the upcoming events. He even offered her some. She gladly had three Big Macs that day to calm her nerves. It was a little excessive, but she figured that she’d burn all those calories off by beating the shit out of Louis.

Night was coming soon. Lauren knew that Louis would strike at nightfall because that was when everyone would be tired, and it was the closest to Ally’s birthday. She tried to get some sleep as she told the others too. But that wasn’t working out too well for her. Dinah’s loud snores kept her from falling asleep alongside all of her worries for the future.

Lauren climbed out of bed and walked out of the bunk room, making her way to the window. The cool floor bothered her bare feet greatly and the even cooler breeze that drifted through the fire station seemed to send chills on her skin. Curse her for wearing a tank top and shorts to sleep.

A loud crack interrupted her thoughts. “They’re coming,” Lucy said without preamble. “Damn Laur, looking fine as always.”

Lauren whipped her head around to glare at Lucy. “I have a girlfriend now. Keep your damn thoughts to yourself.” Lucy just grinned and Lauren began to wonder why she even bothered. Days ago Lucy was hung up on Keana, so why was she flirting with her now? “Anyways, tell me what we’re dealing with.”

“Six cars are coming down the highway from the direction of Coates. They’ll be at Ralph’s in a minute,” Lucy reported. “However, they don’t seem to be in much of a hurry. I suppose they’re counting down the short girl’s last moments.”

Lauren narrowed her eyes at Ally being referred to as ‘the short girl.’ “Did you see any faces? Like Louis or Zayn?”

“Nada,” Lucy answered.

Lauren licked her lips slowly. She pushed past the teleporting brunette and returned to the bunk room. She shook Normani’s bed first, urging her to get up. No movement came from her bunk which really confused her. In fact, Normani’s bed was empty. Lauren didn’t have time to go look for Normani, so she hustled over to Dinah’s bed and shook it furiously.

A hand reached up to swat Lauren away. That definitely wasn’t Dinah’s hand.

“Holy shit. Normani!?” Lauren gasped, watching as her best friend pulled the covers off of her and Dinah. Dinah had her arms wrapped around Normani and had her head buried into the crook of her neck. Lauren thought that was so gay and so fucking adorable.

“What is it, Laur?” Normani rasped, rubbing her eyes.

Dinah yawned, removing her head from Normani’s neck. “I thought you told us to get some sleep, Lauser.”

“Yeah, I did. Nap time’s over lovebirds. They’re on the move.” Both of them sat up quickly, untangling themselves from each other’s arms. Lauren made a mental note to tease them about it later. Dinah grabbed her machine gun that hung off the pole of the bunkbeds. Normani didn’t need it because her powers came from within her, but Dinah needed to be near water for her powers to work. Lauren grabbed her own machine pistol as well. Lauren decided it was time to put some actual clothes on too. She grabbed a pair of black leggings and pulled them on. She put one of her white collared shirts and then slung her leather jacket over her shoulders.

“What do I do now?” Lucy asked from outside the doorway.

“Pop back towards Ralph’s and see if they go into the store or if they split off.”

“And then?”

“Pop to the Town Plaza, I’m heading there now.”

Lucy didn’t reply. Lauren poked her head outside the door to find the brunette that was previously standing there now was gone.

Normani and Dinah came up behind her, fully dressed and ready for battle. “Y’all ready?” Normani asked the both of them.

“Hardly,” Lauren replied, making her way to the fireman’s pole. “But we’ll make due, right? It’s time for battle and we know where we’re going from here.”

“Straight to hell?” Dinah quipped. “I hope I can meet my man Lucifer.”

Lauren laughed gently. “If you die, Camila will kill you, that’s a known fact.” She gripped the pole and slid down.

“How can she kill me if I’m already dead!” Dinah shouted from above her before sliding down behind her. Normani soon came after the both of them.

The walkie-talkie in Lauren’s jacket pocket crackled. She reached in and pulled it out so she could hear Camila’s static filled and strained voice.

“Lo, I see them. They just passed Ralph’s and I think they’re headed to the school.”

Lauren turned down the volume of the loud walkie-talkie and pressed the button to speak to her. “Lucy just told me, but the school is new information,” she said. “Are you and Sofi okay?”

Camila didn’t respond for a second.

Lauren gestured Normani and Dinah to follow her, but Dinah seemed too eager to hear what her best friend was saying so she brushed past Normani and walked along next to her. She glanced at Dinah in confusion, but the Tongan just grinned, pointing at the walkie talkie. “Sofi and I are fine. Ally’s up here with us too. Woah hey--” She was cut off by the sound of Ally’s laughter. “Knock it off guys! The bell is not a toy.”

Dinah cackled, snatching the walkie talkie from Lauren. “Ayo Chancho, keep Smallz and Mini Cabello in line! Ain’t that your only job?”

“Cheech,” Camila whined. “Lemme talk to Lauren.”

“How  _ dare  _ you choose some girl over your best friend. What about to bros before hoes--” Dinah was cut off by Normani coming forward and snatching the walkie talkie from her hand and then shoving it back towards Lauren.

Lauren exhaled, turning her attention away from Dinah and Normani, who were now bickering loudly. “Sorry about that.” She looked up towards the church steeple, noticing a small dot poking up from one of the awnings of the steeple. “Camz, if that’s your head, I want it down now. People can see you.”

The dot immediately disappeared. “That’s what I thought.”

“Lo, please be careful,” Camila pleaded. “I love you.”

“I will, and I love you too.” She put her walkie talkie back in her pocket and sighed quietly. She noticed that the bickering between Dinah and Normani stopped. Lauren’s head turned to look at them. Normani’s eyes were so wide that she was sure that it was larger than Ally’s tiny fists, for eyes, those were huge. Dinah looked like she just found out she won the lottery.

“When did you guys say that y’all love each other? No way!” Dinah gushed.

“Now isn’t the time, Dinah,” Normani grumbled, shooting the girl a glare.“I told you, you were fucking whipped Jauregui. Soon you’ll be going at it like bunnies.” Lauren had to roll her eyes at Normani’s grin.

“Who will be going at it like bunnies?” Lucy asked as she appeared, scaring Lauren so much that she almost tripped and fell flat on her butt. Dinah cursed very loudly at the appearance of the Coates Academy girl and tried to jump into Normani’s arms.

Dinah smirked. “Camren. Also known as Camila and Lauren.” Judging by Dinah’s features, she could tell that she did not like Lucy at all whatsoever. Lucy’s look of disgust seemed to spur Dinah further. “They’re the cutest couple I’ve ever seen. Cuter than Brittany and Santana from  _ Glee _ .”

“Anyways,” Lucy drawled. “They’re going to the school. Louis is with them. Both Louis and Perrie I saw for sure. I didn’t see Zayn.” She exhaled sharply. “I hope that fucker is dead.”

“Thank you Lucy, I can take it from here.”

Lucy blinked. “Are you sure, Laur? I can totally help you out.”

“Nah, I’m good. Bounce around and keep watch, save your energy though. We’ll need your teleporting skills.”

And just like that, Lucy was gone.

“Lauren, they’re getting out of the cars and going into the school,” said Camila on the walkie talkie. Lauren scowled, staring back up at the steeple. She wasn’t doing a very good job of listening to her. She could see her figure and if Lauren wanted, she could call out and make her look at her, but she was too far for her to actually see her.

Lauren turned to Normani and Dinah. “I think it’s time we split off.” Normani and Dinah exchanged hesitant glances. “You good with that?”

“Yeah, uh, listen, Lauren?” Dinah stuttered out. She raised her eyebrows expectantly as she waited for Dinah to continue. “I’m sorry I haven’t been the greatest person to you these past few days. I really am trying not to be a dick--”

Lauren gave her a small smile. “DJ, it’s okay. I’ll let you finish the apology later. And I forgive you, I just hope you can fix things with Ashley.” Dinah nodded, giving Lauren a patriotic salute and ran off to the daycare where her assigned position was.

Only Normani remained.

Lauren and Normani didn’t need to exchange words. They just pulled each other into a tight hug. Two best friends, an inseparable bond formed during freshman year when they both stood up to Louis Tomlinson being an absolute dick to the both of them. Two roommates, staying up late and watching movies on Lauren’s phone, listening to their many favorite artists, or having deep conversations about many theories in life. Two partners, who stuck together the moment the FAYZ started and protected each other as much as they could.

“Don’t die out there,” Normani whispered in her ear. “I can’t lose my best friend.”

“The same could be said for you.”

They pulled away, exchanging one small smile before going their separate ways. Lauren was about to head in the direction of the school when Justin came bolting out of the McDonald’s. He called her name out frantically.

“Lauren, yo! I got you some nuggets.” He waved the greasy brown bag excitedly.

Lauren had to laugh. “Thanks Justin, I literally had so many Big Macs. I’m going to get fat.”

Justin grinned. “Nonsense, you eat a lot of junk and your body has still stayed flawless.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” She snatched the brown bag from his hands and gave him a fist bump. He sent her a wave before returning back to his domain, Lauren turned around and made her way towards the school.

Lauren popped a nugget in her mouth and tried to think. The move to the school didn’t seem like a very Louis thing to do. He was all about something big and extravagant. She half-expected him to arrive at the Town Plaza blasting loud metal music and then challenging Lauren to a duel. It would be an unfair duel of course, because Louis could move things with his mind and although Lauren had a gun. Her persuasion would probably be absolutely useless.

She caught sight of Vero, who stood against the wall of the hardware store, waiting for someone. The brunette’s smile grew when her gaze met Lauren’s and she waved her over. As Vero made her way to her, Lauren brought the walkie talkie up to her mouth. “Camila, what are they doing?”

“There’s no sign of them leaving the school anytime soon,” Camila answered quickly. “There’s one guy from Coates standing out guard though. It isn’t Louis or Zayn.”

Lauren could end this. She could burst into the school and take on Louis one-one. There wouldn’t need to be a big battle, just Lauren and Louis fighting it out in some shitty public school.

“Sorry Jauregui, I couldn’t find you,” Vero said as she came up next to Lauren. “What’s the plan?”

“They’re in the school. Louis and Perrie are there for sure.”

“No Zayn?”

Lauren shook her head.

“Thank the fucking lord,” Vero said in relief. “We should take the fight to the school. The sooner we end this, the better it is for us all. Less kids will get hurt.”

She nodded her head at Vero. “I think that will work best.” They both picked up their pace and made their trek to the school. “I forgot to ask, how much control do you have over your powers?”

Vero shrugged her shoulders, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her Coates Academy blazer. “Um, I can rattle a wall pretty good if I stand close to it. But I’ve mastered throwing people against the wall and breaking skulls.”

They both laughed loudly.

Lucy popped right in front of them. Lauren was starting to get annoyed at how frequent Lucy kept showing up. She was like a lowkey stalker and she was starting to wonder what happened to her close friend that she cherished since before the FAYZ. Lauren did notice how Vero licked her lips excitedly when she saw Lucy.

“They’re all inside the school. Only one guard as far as I can tell. I think he’s a freshman at Coates. And for sure no Zayn.”

Lauren nodded her head. “Okay. Here’s what’s going to happen. Go to Normani and tell her that Vero and I are going to go after them, and then I need you to go up to the steeple where Camila and Ally are. If Vero and I get in trouble, we may need a distraction.”

Lucy seemed to understand. Vero sent Lucy a grin and a wink. “Thanks for the info, baby.” Lucy scowled in annoyance and vanished.

“Do you ever  _ not  _ think with your vagina?” Lauren chastised.

“Hm, probably not,” Vero replied.

That was the first tactical order she made for this battle. She just hoped it would be a good one because the last thing Lauren needed was to muck things up because she couldn’t even make the right decisions. She wished Normani was with her right now, she’d know what to do. Not that Vero wasn’t a good battle partner or anything, but Normani knew when Lauren felt anxious or insecure and would always assure her that things would be okay.

Lauren felt like she was walking to her imminent demise as Vero and her made their way to the street where the school was. If she failed, not only did she have to worry about getting hurt, but she’d have to worry about how this would affect Camila. She didn’t miss how Camila protested her taking things on on her own and a part of her wanted to relent, But Sofi was important and needed protection, and the only person qualified to do it was Camila Cabello herself.

She had to stop Louis for her. For Normani. For Dinah. For Ally. For Ashley. For all of them, all of the kids.

She had to make sure Camila was safe, because she was the most important person to her.

But she hadn’t forgotten about Ally and her imminent disappearing too. If Ally had to go, the last thing she should see is her friends claiming victory from the jaws of evil.

The closer they got to the school, the more Lauren began to doubt herself. Maybe this plan wasn’t a good idea. It was deviating from the old one and left tons of useful people forced to stand around and do nothing.

“Anything changed?” Lauren asked as she keyed the the walkie talkie.

“Nope, can’t really see anything though, it’s getting dark,” Camila answered her. “Please be careful Lo. I think he has a gun.”

“And so do I babe, don’t you worry ‘bout a thing.”

“Lauren, I’m serious!”

Lauren just mumbled a reply before turning off the walkie talkie. She wanted to tell her one more time that she loved her, but her mind was too focused on Camila and not enough about Louis. Who knew getting a girlfriend and then falling in love with her would be so detrimental to trying to beat the shit out of a psycho control freak?

Lauren leaned against the brick wall of the school. “Here’s the plan, I’m going to run up to him and try to convince him to drop the gun. And you’ll come up behind me and blast the door down.”

Vero’s eyes widened. “Laur, what if he shoots you?”

Lauren shook her head. “He won’t. I trust that a fourteen year old will be too scared shitless to do anything.”

Vero bit down on her lip. “God, I hope you’re right, Jauregui.”

“Are you ready?”

A minute of silence. Vero seemed to be pulling her thoughts together and Lauren was willing to wait as long as she had to for her friend to calm down. She mumbled an “okay” and Lauren turned her attention to the front of the school.

“One. Two. Three.”

The pair burst out from cover and began bolting towards the school. The boy yelped as he spotted them, he turned his head and began to raise his gun.

“Don’t do it!” Lauren yelled, holding her hands up to show she had no intention of shooting him, but she forgot that her machine pistol was in her right hand.

Fifty feet away, the boy lifted the gun up to firing position.

“I don’t want to hurt you, please!”

He aimed and fired, missing Lauren by miles.

He raised the gun again and trembled. Lauren still continued to charge towards him with no intention on stopping.

Thirty feet away, he fired again. Lauren ducked just in time so he’d miss her. The warmth she felt inside her that appeared when she needed to use her abilities was tempting her. She snapped her head upwards and stared right at the boy.

“Put the gun down, now,” she snarled.

He averted her gaze. Louis must have told him about not looking at her in the eyes, otherwise it would work for sure. Lauren was fed up. If he wasn’t going to cooperate, then she’d take care of things on her own. She stopped running and pulled the machine pistol out. She aimed the gun at his head.

He yelped in fear. She aimed at the wall right near him and fired. He jumped to the ground and crawled away. Once he was behind Lauren, he bolted.

“Vero, the door!”

Vero held her hands up and the gravity beneath the floor was suspended. The whole wall, including the doorframe lurched suddenly as if struck by a truck from the other side. The door swung open and loose dirt began to shoot towards the sky.

Vero dropped her hands and everything suspended in the air dropped to the floor. Bricks from the wall cracked, the door was broken in two and glass from nearby windows covered the sidewalk.

Lauren and Vero ran inside, expecting a huge confrontation.

But they were greeted with silence.

They panted heavily, looking at the school office that had its lights on. Louis and Perrie had to be there. Where else would they want to go in this place?

She looked over at her companion. “Do you want to do the honors?”

Vero shook her head.

Lauren shrugged her shoulders and opened the office door slowly. She expected to see Louis sitting behind the secretary’s desk. She did not expect to have something large and blunt come flying at her head.

She screamed in pain at the impact and nearly fell over. Her eyes moved upward. There Calum Hood was, clutching a big club and grinning at her like the Chesire Cat. He lunged forward and attempted to hit her again.

Lauren braced herself for the impact.

Nothing came, because she heard the boy scream loudly and a huge crash. The desk and the boy were swung backwards. Vero stood behind her with her hands up, ready for attack. Lauren got back up on her feet and marched over to him. She cocked her gun and aimed it at the boy’s head.

“Where’s Louis?” she snarled, glaring at him and feeling her powers kick in.

Calum moaned. “I can’t say-”

She kicked him roughly and pushed the gun closer to his face. “Where. The. Fuck. Is. Louis?”

“H-He left,” Calum cried out. “They left me and the other dude here.” Lauren’s eyes widened in total shock. This wasn’t happening. “You can’t beat Louis. He has Zayn and they’ve got everything-”

Lauren didn’t let him finish, she just kicked him once again to distract him. He roared in pain again. She looked over at Vero, who just returned with tape. “Tie him up, now,” she ordered, stepping outside the office and pulling her walkie talkie out.

“Camila,” Lauren said into the walkie talkie.

“Lauren. Oh my God,” Camila gasped. She couldn’t hear what Camila said next, but she knew it wasn’t good. The fear was evident in her voice.

“I fucked up. It was a trick.”

Camila let out a shaky breath. “I know, and I’m coming down there to help.”

“No, you’re fucking not.”

Camila was silent for a few second, Lauren could still hear her breathing into the speaker. “You can’t stop me, Lauren.”

She called Camila’s name frantically. But there was no response, Lauren let out an angry cry and let the anger get the best of her. She punched the plastered wall of the office. May God have mercy on them all.

* * *

Perdido Beach - 02 Hours, 22 Minutes

Camila ran for her life. She ran down the stairs of the church, leaving Ally with Sofi. Nothing could stop her now. The rush of adrenaline that pumped in her veins couldn’t be stopped. Her girlfriend may have been mad at her now for not listening but that was the least of her worries right now.

Dozens and dozens of coyotes were rushing through the town plaza and Camila had a vague idea where they were going to go. Her mother always warned her that she should never play hero unless she absolutely had to. This was one of those times. She was going to prove them all wrong. Camila Cabello was useful, important, and could definitely kick ass if needed.

She clutched the automatic pistol that she acquired yesterday and held it close to her. She practically begged Normani to give one to her and not tell Lauren. The last thing she needed was her girlfriend to be pissed because she got her hands on a gun.

Camila ran from the church’s back room and into the sanctuary. She had to be quick if she wasn’t quick enough, who knows what kind of trouble those terrible coyotes would get into. It was times like this where she wished she had a more useful power. Hearing other people’s thoughts were cool, but they didn’t do anything useful against a huge group of coyotes. Lauren’s voice boomed from her hoodie’s pocket and she quickly moved to mute it. Now wasn’t the time to talk to her.

“Mila,” Ariana gasped in relief, appearing right in front of her in a blur. “The coyotes are headed towards the daycare.”

“Damn, really?” Camila asked, following her out the wooden doors of the church.

Ariana nodded. “If we go quick, we might be able to stop Zayn.” And just like that, Ariana was gone in a blur. Camila wished she had super speed. Camila continued to run as fast as she could. She saw the ladder that led up to the roof of the daycare and quickly climbed it. Once she reached the top, she noticed Ariana and Dinah arguing.

“C’mon Hansen, just shoot the damn coyotes!” Ariana yelled.

Dinah narrowed her eyes, holding her machine gun up and attempting to aim it at them. “They’re moving too fast.”

“Nothing’s too fast for the Breeze.”

Camila made her way over to her best friend and Ariana. “Hey guys.” Dinah nearly jumped in surprise when she saw her. She opened her mouth to say something but Camila quickly shushed her. “I know, I shouldn’t be here and Lauren is probably so pissed, but I want to help.”

Dinah licked her lips slowly as she tried to aim her gun once again at the crowds of coyotes. She took a deep breath as her finger rested over the trigger, as if she was waiting for the right moment. Dinah’s eyes squeezed shut and she attempted to pull the trigger but then stopped herself. “I can’t do it,” Dinah relented, dropping the gun down.

Ariana scowled. “Oh come on Dinah Jane. I thought you were all rough and tough, what’s the change for?”  
Camila frowned at Ariana. “Leave her alone, I don’t see you trying to shoot a gun.”

“The Breeze was put on communications duty, not blowing rabid dogs’ brains out,” Ariana replied sassily.

Camila’s nose scrunched up as she looked at Ariana in confusion. “What kind of name is the Breeze?”

“It’s her superhero name,” Dinah explained. “Which is really dumb considering she basically is her own superhero with the last name Grande.”

Ariana rolled her eyes. “Don’t act like you weren’t super excited to come up with it with me.” She smiled widely as Dinah just scowled back at her. “I mean come on Dinah, you suggested Dangerous Woman and for me to dress up in black latex with a bunny mask, so…”

Camila saw a coyote’s head pop up. He must have heard Ariana’s very loud and obnoxious voice. She grabbed both Dinah and Ariana and pulled them behind the wall of the building next to the daycare. The three of them went silence except for the sound of their heavy breathing and all of their heartbeats. Camila felt bad, hearing Dinah have a mental meltdown, but she did a very good job keeping it in. Ariana crept forward to see what was going on.

Camila didn’t miss how Ariana’s breath hitched.  _ “Oh my fucking God, no way, this can’t be real,”  _ Ariana thought.

“Ari, what is it?” Camila whispered.

“Zayn,” was all Ariana could say. Camila quickly moved past Dinah to see what she was looking at. Camila almost shrieked in fear.

Zayn Malik was back. He looked ragged, haggard, but he had a confident and boisterous look as he swaggered down the street. In his hand was a big red whip, probably more than ten feet long, dragging behind him. On closer examination, Camila learned that he wasn’t holding a whip, his hand was the whip.

It was truly the most disgusting thing Camila had seen in the FAYZ.

“Camila,” Ariana mumbled, looking over at her. “We can end this now. Just shoot him.”

Camila raised her gun and aimed it at the Coates Academy demon. Her hands shook. Her aim was perfect all she had to do was pull the trigger and let the bullets rain down on him. But she couldn’t, her conscience was telling her that this was wrong. Killing a man, no matter how vile and terrible he was, would ruin her. Camila already found herself to be a terrible human being for calling her little sister a derogatory term. And if she killed someone, she’d find herself being eaten alive with guilt.

“I-I can’t do it,” Camila stuttered.

Ariana didn’t seem to want to take that as answer because she gripped onto her shoulder tightly. “Yes, you can, and you will.”

Camila whimpered. She whimpered like a puppy. “Ari, please.”

“Do it for Lauren, don’t you want to make her proud of you? She’ll worship the ground you walk on if you kill Zayn.”

Camila had so many opportunities to shoot him, to tatter his body with bullets, to make him pay for everything he ever did to the innocent kids of Perdido Beach.

Dinah got up from behind them. “Ariana, don’t make Mila do this. Can’t you see she’s shaking in fear?”

“Shut up Dinah,” she growled.

Camila’s finger rubbed the trigger. Inhale. Exhale. She could do this. She had to do this. Inhale. Exhale. She was so close to ending all of this. She was so close to taking down one more enemy that they had to deal with. Inhale. Exhale.

It was too late. Zayn already was gone and out of view.

Camila burst into tears. “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t fucking do it.” She buried her face in her hands to hide the look of shame. She heard Dinah get up from behind her and pull her into a tight hug. She gladly accepted the embrace and wrapped her arms around Dinah. Burying her head in the crook of Dinah’s neck, she allowed the tears to continue to fall. Her best friend rubbed her back comfortingly and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“You’re okay Mila,” Dinah muttered. “No one blames you.”

The sound of screams coming from the daycare below them caused Dinah to stiffen, therefore causing Camila to stiffen as well. 

While Dinah was rubbing her back, her elbow bumped the walkie talkie in her pocket and unmuted it.

“Camz, if you’re there, please answer me now,” Lauren’s voice boomed from her pocket. She sounded worried. Camila almost considered ignoring her, but then her girlfriend spoke again. “I’m sorry, Camzi, I didn’t mean to freak out. I’m just so worried about the little ones and you and...I just,” Lauren sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

Camila pulled a little bit further away from Dinah so she could pull her walkie talkie out. She pressed the button and sniffled. “I’m here, Lauren.”

“Camila,” she quickly replied. “Baby, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m with Dinah and Ariana.”

“Yeah I know,” Lauren said with a laugh. “I can see you guys across the street.”

Camila scowled and Dinah, who was listening intently to their conversation, looked over Camila’s head to look across the street. “Damn, Lauser wasn’t kidding.”

“Listen, I just spoke to Alexa, Louis has his terms that he wants, I want to know what you think,” she said.

Camila nodded slowly. “Yeah. I’ll be down in a second.”

“Bring Dinah with you, I’d like her input too.”

“‘Kay,” Camila signed off. She turned and looked up at her best friend. “You heard the girlfriend Cheech, let’s go!”

The two of them made their way to the ladder and climbed down. Dinah was ahead of her and took the opportunity to sneak to the daycare’s window and try to see what’s going on. Camila’s head began to throb as she unconsciously began to listen to the thoughts of the dozens of preschool kids inside the daycare. Tons were panicked, crying out for their mothers, while others were making comments on how Eric was a terrible prince. Camila popped her head up to the window to try and see in. Her gaze was met with Zayn’s.

He looked at her pointedly, smirked, and used his grotesque whip hand to close the curtains. Camila felt queasy and wondered what the hell happened allowed Zayn to go from  a burnt off hand to a nasty whip hand.

Dinah grabbed her hand and the two of them crossed the street to the burned down apartment building where Lauren and Normani stood, waiting patiently for them.

“You won’t believe this,” Dinah said as they approached their friends. “But Zayn has a fucking whip hand.”

Normani grimaced. “I saw. I don’t know how that happened considering Harry nearly burned his hand off.”

“So, what’s the plan, Lo?” Camila asked, addressing Lauren who had her arms crossed and a worried expression on her features. Her eyes were glued to Camila’s hand. She curiously looked down to see what she was looking at. Oh yes, the gun.

Lauren gritted her teeth. “Where the  _ hell  _ did you get that?”

“I-um,” Camila stammered. “It doesn’t matter!”

“I gave it to her,” Normani answered for her. Lauren shot her a death glare. “You were leaving her up on a church steeple with absolutely no protection. She wants to fight back, I don’t understand why you’re being such an overprotective bitch about this.”

Lauren looked from Normani and Camila with an unreadable expression. Camila could tell she was mad, but she seemed to also think that Normani was right. “Alright fine, she can keep it.”

“So...the plan?” Dinah asked, scratching her head.

Lauren nodded. “I was approached by Alexa materializing out of nowhere, that little snake, she decided to side with Louis. Apparently she has some sort of camouflaging abilities. But here are the terms that Louis gave to us: everyone has to come out into the open so that Louis and his goons can see them, all guns and weapons have to go on the steps of the town hall, and all freaks have to go inside the church.”

“He’s basically us to surrender before we even fight,” Normani seethed. “What a coward.”

“If we refuse, Zayn will let the coyotes loose on the little ones, one by one,” she continued. “I don’t know about you guys but I really don’t feel like mucking things up so that more lives are lost than necessary.”

Camila bit down on her lip. This was a lot to take in. “Do you have a plan?” The twinkle in Lauren eyes proved to her that she did. Maybe hope wasn’t lost after all.

“I do. It involves two parts.” Lauren stopped, Camila nodded her head for her to continue. “We need to stall a little. Alexa is going to head back to Louis and tell him that we accept, she’ll be back in about five minutes to see that we’re doing what we were asked to do. She’ll see people out in the open, she’ll see everyone with powers going into the church. I know she’ll go and report back to Louis and he’ll tell her to make sure everyone is in.”

Camila’s lips curved into a smile. “More time. We don’t hurry. We can have kids argue or pretend to force them to follow orders. Louis won’t show up until he’s sure everything’s in order.”

Normani glanced at her watch hesitantly. “We have a half an hour at the most.”

Dinah furrowed her brows. “Okay Lauser, I like this plan so far. But what’s next?”

Lauren gave Dinah a knowing smile. “Then? We break the kids out of the daycare with the help of some of our Coates friends.”

“Yeah, we can definitely do that,” Camila agreed. Lauren’s eyes widened and she turned her head sharply to look at her.

Her green eyes narrowed. “Not you.”

“What?” Camila spat in disbelief. ‘What do you mean ‘not you,’ what kind of bullshit is that?”

“It means, I’m not letting you go anywhere near Zayn and the coyotes,” Lauren replied coldly.

Camila was flabbergasted. Her jaw dropped, arms crossed over her chest as she clutched the gun close to her chest. She thought Lauren was fine with her getting involved with the violence now. This felt like a slap to the face.

Dinah was quick to defend her. “Are you even listening to yourself, Laur? Mila wants to help and you’re shutting her down.”

Lauren turned to look at Normani for assistance. Normani just shook her head. “I agree with Dinah, you’re being a little paranoid.”

“Well  _ someone  _ needs to make sure that the kids are okay and that it looks like they’re following Louis’s orders,” Lauren argued.

Camila just shrugged her shoulders. “Why don’t you get Ally to do it? She’d love to help out.” Lauren’s eyes met hers. She noticed the glint in her eyes and she tried to look away but she couldn’t. Her abilities had already taken full effect.

“Camz, please, do this for me. Do this for everyone.”

Camila winced, trying to fight it, but she had to. She had to say yes. There was no way she couldn’t. “Okay,” she breathed out.

Lauren’s gaze moved away from her and Camila felt betrayed, heartbroken, upset that she let herself be victim to her charms. “I’m sorry, please forgive me,” she blurted out.

Camila just smiled at her sadly and took off towards the church, leaving the three of them to devise their plan for taking out the daycare. She wouldn’t cry. She refused to cry. Lauren was just trying to protect her. Hell, she couldn’t even shoot a gun properly to take down Zayn. She didn’t fit in with her badass girlfriend and friends.

She climbed the stairs back up to the steeple, biting down hard on her lip so she wouldn’t cry. As she opened the trapdoor, she sighed in relief when she saw Ally, perfectly fine and looking down at the town. Sofi was fast asleep in one of the sleeping bags.

“Hey,” Camila said quietly.

Ally turned around to face Camila. “Hey Mila, did you kick any bad guys’ butts?”

She shook her head. “I couldn’t. I was too much of a coward.”

Ally frowned, reaching over to grab her hand. “Mila, that doesn’t make you a coward. It makes you a good person.” Camila’s eyes widened in disbelief. “I admire your bravery for going down and fighting against the bad guys. But we both know, you wouldn’t hurt a fly and that’s not a bad thing. Considering the circumstances, it makes you one of the purest people in the FAYZ.”

Camila frowned, nodding her head in understandment. “But Lauren, Normani, or even Dinah seemed willing to take up arms and kill someone. Well, maybe not Dinah, but she could if she really tried.”

“Normani and Lauren came from a different background than us. They have different morals and experiences that let them remove that unwillingness to harm others.”

A loud explosion was heard from the daycare and then a bunch of screams. Coyotes howled loudly and Camila heard a sound that resembled a whip cracking.

“It makes me wonder if I’m not cool enough for Lauren,” Camila mumbled, making her way to the railing to look out and watch the action unfold.

“I know you are Camila, she looks at you like you were the one who invented sugar. She wants to give you the world and she’s stubborn about it, and it’s okay to disagree with her,” Ally said, letting out a sigh once she heard a few gunshots. “Just know that she means well.”

Camila was thankful for Ally. She always knew when to say the right things and how to make her feel better. It was hard for her to believe that she could possibly lose her in two hours. Ally was the mother of the group and the mediator. Who knew what kind of arguments would break out of Ally wasn’t there to stop them?

“Hey Ally, we have a job,” Camila said. Ally’s ears perked up. “We gotta get everyone out of the houses and everyone with powers in the church. But make sure they go as slow as possible. We need as much time as possible.”

Ally grinned. “Sounds like an excellent job for Camally. We can definitely do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to divide the battle into two chapters because it's so long and I really didn't feel like writing a ten thousand words+ chapter that combined everything. But things are getting crazy intense my friends.


	12. THE THANKSGIVING BATTLE (PART TWO)

 

Town Plaza - 01 Hours, 06 Minutes

“Come on, this is bullshit, you can’t make us go in there!” Vero shouted angrily. “We gotta fight back not give in to Louis’s orders.” She pushed up against Justin and Shawn who were struggling to force her into the church doors. After a bit more of a struggle, the two boys got Vero inside the church.

Dinah let out an exasperated sigh from next to her. “They’re doing a good job with convincing that they’re putting up a fight.” She reached her hand up to scratch her nose. “Though Vero is being a little dramatic, but whatever gets us more time.” Lauren had to laugh. She looked around the plaza expectantly. Kids were crowded on the south end, awaiting their next direction but still looked beyond scared. Bea had the preschoolers in the daycare, Jesy awaited the wounded to arrive to her in the church basement, and Normani stationed some of her militia that didn’t have any powers near the apartment building.

“Everything’s set, we just need to wait for Louis to arrive,” Lauren said. She looked over at Dinah. “You’ll need to go into the church too.”

Dinah raised a brow.

“I’m serious Dinah, Louis knows you’re a  _ freak  _ too, so you need to go in. I’m already breaking the rules by having Normani out.”

Dinah shrugged her shoulders, frowning in defeat. “I’m not too happy about this, but you’re the boss.” She gave Lauren a fake salute and turned around to walk into the church.

“Please make sure Camila is okay,” she called after her friend. Dinah waved her hand to show that she understood and went inside.

Lauren was alone in the dark, anticipating the arrival of someone that may not come. And she was scared shitless, so shitless. She was armed with only a machine pistol and her magic eyes while Louis had telekinesis.

He could throw her against a wall and kill her instantly.

It was a suicide mission.

But she had to fight back, for everyone who ever counted on her and relied on her now.

She glanced at her watch once more. It was a little over an hour before Ally disappeared. Time was running out.

A coyote howled from nearby causing Lauren to tense up a bit. No way, Lauren sent them away after the ambush in the daycare. She was sure she scared them off. Dinah even almost shot Zayn and scared  _ him  _ off. Maybe the coyotes were still running, maybe things would be okay.

She clutched the pistol close to her. In her head she pictured what could be going on in the church. Dinah would no doubt be with Camila trying to calm everyone down. And Camila would be trying her best to keep Sofi calm. She could picture Vero and Ariana desperate to go back out and fight. Shawn and Harry would be near the door incase Lauren got in trouble.

Lauren took another deep breath.

Lucy appeared out of nowhere, eyes widened as if she had seen a ghost. She clutched Lauren’s arm. “T-They’re coming,” she sputtered out.

“Good,” Lauren said as confidently as she could.

Lucy squeezed onto Lauren’s arm tighter. “No, not Louis. The coyotes.”

Lauren’s eyes widened. No way. She sent them away. Loud yips and growls were heard as a huge group of coyotes came barreling through from two different directions. They were heading straight towards the kids.

“Fuck, Lucy, get Harry and Normani now!” Lauren called to the girl, pushing her out of the way and rushing towards the crowds of kids.

She skidded to a halt when the sound of engines roaring could be heard from the streets. A black SUV raced down the street near the church and nearly crashed into a street lamp. Behind the SUV came the sounds and headlights of more cars. The crowd screamed, causing Lauren to spin around. She wasted no time lifting the pistol up and firing at the coyotes on the left.

A flash of green light appeared and hit the rest of the group of coyotes on the left. Lauren turned to look at Harry and shot him a forced smile. There was no time for thanking anyone. The kids were rushing towards Harry and Lauren to get away from the rest of the coyotes. It would be impossible to shoot any projectiles towards them without hitting the kids.

“Get down, everyone down!” Lauren yelled at the kids who came up behind her. Her pleas were useless.

A black Audi pulled to a stop in front of the church. Louis climbed up from the sunroof.

“Normani! Now!” Lauren roared.

“Lauren Jauregui, isn’t this such a great evening?” Louis shouted with a gleeful look. “It’s about to get even better.”

He raised his hands, aimed not at Lauren, but instead at the church. It was like an invisible giant had just come through and leaned on the church. The limestone cracked, the door blew inward, the stained-glass windows shattered.

“Camila!” Lauren screamed.

There were so many screams. Screams coming from the kids, screams coming from inside the church, screams coming from Lauren herself.

The impossibly loud sound of the machine gun broke through. Normani and her militia came running from the apartment building. They fired their guns at the coyotes, Normani did the best that she could to freeze any that came her way.

Louis’s smile dropped and he pushed against the church harder. The side windows exploded and the steeple swayed. “How are you going to save them now? One more push and it collapses.”

Lauren couldn’t think. Her hands were shaking too wildly for her to even to attempt to fire a gun at him. Harry fired a few beams at Louis but missed by the mile. 

“Louis! Face me like a man, you coward! Look at me.” Louis’s head immediately turned over to look at Lauren after her plea. She wondered if she was actually getting to him, if her persuasion would even work now.

He just smiled, still looking at Lauren, he sent another push at the church.

The front of the church wall sagged inwards. The roof rattled madly and the steeple teetered, but did not fall. The wooden beams, however, did crash into the ground, probably crushing all of the kids in there. No, this wasn’t happening. Ally was in there. Dinah was in there.  _ Camila  _ was in there.

“Camila, no!” Lauren cried out. She had enough. She was going to kill Louis. No matter how long it took, that man was going to die.

But before she could do anything, Harry was already running at him in full speed. “I got him, Lauren, help Normani out with the coyotes!” Lauren admittedly was disappointed she wasn’t the one going after him. But Harry had the power to, Lauren would end up dead. She fired at the coyotes that still tried to advance.

Still the sight was horrifying, coyotes were ravaging bodies of children that weren’t fast enough. Lauren couldn’t even count how many there were, but it was more than the body count in the graveyard, a total of one.

Flashes of green light and debris flying came from the location of the fountain. It was all too much for Lauren to handle.

“No, stop, you’re hitting the kids!” Lauren heard Normani cry over the sounds of machine guns and crying.

Lauren heard Harry cry out in pain. She rushed over to find Harry lying on the pavement in front of the scorched apartment building. She swore loudly as she made her way up next to him. His face was bleeding, his hands were shaking. He looked terrified.

“Lauren, he’s in there,” Harry croaked.

She bolted into the apartment building’s front door. No sign of Louis yet. She ran up the stairs, clutching her gun close to her in rage and fury. “I’m going to kill you! I’m going to fucking kill you, you sick monster,” Lauren growled.

“Come and get me, Jauregui,” Louis called back, pain evident in his voice.

The wall next to her rippled.

The door at the end of the hallway was open.

She crept towards it, holding her gun up in case he appeared suddenly. The door began to swing shut again and Lauren hissed, kicking the door back open again. She fired blindly into the room. Louis cried out in pain but that didn’t stop him from sending a charred wooden beam towards her. She ducked just in time. The next one, she wasn’t so lucky with. It slammed right into her left elbow and shattered it.

Lauren cried out in pain and dropped the gun.

Louis had his palms out, a wicked grin on his bloodied face. “Game over, Lauren.”

Her eyes moved to meet Louis’s. With all the strength she had left, she forced the glint to return. “It isn’t over yet,” she grumbled. Looking straight into his eyes, she took a step forward. “Punch yourself in the face. Hard. You know it’s what you deserve.” Louis did as she asked and cried out in agony.

“Do it again.”

He did. His nose was bloodied and broken. Man it felt good to finally be in control.

“You killed a whole bunch of innocent people today. You’re going to pay for what you did,” Lauren growled.

“I’m going to pay for what I did,” Louis repeated.

“Use your powers to drop the ceiling on you. I want you to die just like you killed everyone in the church.”

Louis held his hands up. “Are you sure?”

Lauren narrowed her eyes. “Quit fucking wasting time and do it.” She made the mistake of looking away for a split second. Her influence over him was gone. His cruel, but devilish look returned.

Louis laughed mirthlessly. “You almost had me there Jauregui. Almost.”

He took a step forward. “But almost, I’m afraid, is never enough.” With of a wave of his hand, Lauren went flying backwards and crashed into the back wall.

Lauren’s vision was blurry. She couldn’t see anything, but she knew in that exact moment, that she lost. She failed everyone in Perdido Beach. She couldn’t defeat him because she was so weak, not good enough to take down a tyrant.

She couldn’t even think. She couldn’t even say goodbye to Camila before the ceiling crashed down on her and sent her into a world of dark emptiness.

* * *

Town Plaza - 14 Minutes

Camila couldn’t breathe. Well, she could, but she still felt like she was suffocating. Something large and heavy crushed her lower back and her legs. She felt uncomfortable, her chest felt like it was being pushed up against something. She looked down and gasped in horror. 

Sofi. She was crushing Sofi. With all the strength that she could muster, she rolled to the side and off of her. Her legs were still stuck in the rubble, but at least she wasn’t crushing her little sister.

“Sofi,” she whispered.

She tried shaking her little sister awake, but she didn’t respond. Her head was pounding like crazy and she tried to remember how she got in this situation. She remembered hiding under the church pews. She remembered the church rumbling like there was an earthquake. She remembered Dinah crying loudly as she held Ally’s hand. She remembered holding Sofi so tightly towards her that she was sure she was going to squeeze the life out of her.

“Sofi, Sofi,” she cried. “Please wake up.”

Camila brought two fingers to Sofi’s neck and attempted to feel for a pulse. She bit back a sob. She could feel her sister’s chest rise and fall. At least she was still alive. Unconscious, but still breathing, that was almost enough for her.

Camila wiped the dirt, dust, and sweat from her eyes. “Help us,” she croaked. She couldn’t tell if she was even speaking or not or if anyone could hear her. Her ears rung violently.

“Someone, please,” she pleaded weakly. “Help us.”

“Save my sister. Save Lauren. Save Dinah. Save Ally. Save Normani. Save us all,” she chanted.

It was no use. Nothing could save them. Camila was destined to die buried under a bunch of rubble. Lauren was probably gone, killed of by Louis. As much as she hated to admit it, Lauren couldn’t take Louis on on her own. She wasn’t strong enough and everyone knew it but chose to believe that she would be enough.

As if the universe was mocking her, a shower of glass shards and plaster fragments fell around her.

Sofi stirred and groaned beneath her. She had a large gash in her head, a large indent, like someone bashed a rock into her skull. Camila let out a sob.

“Oh my God, I’m going to die,” Camila concluded out loud.

She felt weight on the rubble above her, like someone was standing on it. Her breath hitched as she looked up, noticing three familiar figures.

“Shit, it’s Mila! Oh my God look at her, I promised her I’d protect her and I failed.” One of them cried. Was that Dinah? “Vero, do your gravity thing now!”

The girl named Vero smiled sadly. “Already on it, chica.”

The debris floated up and so did Camila and Sofi. When she said that she wished to fly, this was not what she had in mind. Camila’s legs were finally freed and she kicked them around as she was suspended in the air. Vero moved her hand so Camila and Sofi were out of the suspension zone. They both dropped to the ground with a thud.

Dinah and the third figure, who Camila finally realized was Ally, rushed over to her. “God, look at you, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Cheechee,” Camila said quietly. “Where’s Lauren?”  
Ally and Dinah both looked at each other. “She’s...she’s uh,” Dinah started to say.

Camila tensed up. She knew this was coming. Lauren Jauregui was dead and buried under some debris too. She brought her hand to her mouth, too shocked to say anything, too shocked to even cry because she just lost the love of her life.

“She’s alive,” Ally answered for Dinah. Camila wanted to mentally slap herself and Dinah for making her think that Lauren was dead. “But barely. They’re fighting in the Plaza now.”

Camila tried to get up on her feet, but she ended up falling right back on her behind. Dinah offered her arm for her to use to stand up. Her legs wobbled, but she was able to stand up successfully. Her gaze moved to Sofi who was still on the floor in a prostrate position. Camila bent over and picked her little sister up. She felt like a dead weight. Her body was limp like a rag doll. Camila held her sister close to her like an oversized baby.

She staggered towards the plaza with Ally and Dinah in tow. The church door had been blown off which allowed her to see into the plaza. Half of the coyotes were no longer attacking the kids while the other half just stood around in confusion. Across the street at the town hall, a giant stone figure and Zayn were fighting endlessly. The whip cracked against the stone figure’s skin while Zayn’s face was getting destroyed by huge stone fists.

“Is that…?”

“Yeah, it’s Liam. I found him all fucked up yesterday.”

“Oh my God,” Ally breathed out.

Just then a figure ran right smack dab into Camila, nearly causing her to lose her balance.

Camila’s eyes widened when she saw who it was. Louis, bloodied and beaten, shirt melted to his own body, stood looking at her with a wide grin. “Perfect,” he said lowly. In that moment Camila was lifted into the air. Sofi slipped from her hands and she tried desperately to hold onto her, but it was too late. Luckily Ally was able to catch her from hitting the concrete too harshly.

“Come and play Jauregui, I have your little girlfriend,” Louis teased.

Camila looked down and almost cried at the sight. Lauren was a mess. There was a gash on her forehead. Her left arm hung to the side, limp. She was limping partially too and her body looked beyond cut up and bruised. 

“Hiding behind a girl, Tomlinson? I didn’t take you for that much of a pussy.” She laughed, but then clutched her stomach in pain. “Then again, you are Princess Louis.”

He raised Camila higher into the air.

“Don’t test me. I’ll drop her on the ground and shatter all her bones. And Ashley isn’t even here to save her.”

Camila shook her head violently. “Lo, please don’t do anything stupid.”

Lauren glared right at Louis, looking dead in the eye at him. “Put her down Tomlinson, or I’ll break your damn neck.” Louis lowered her slowly to the ground.

Camila’s feet touched the ground and she slumped over, exhausted and worn out.

Louis scowled. “You’re out of time. Ally has only minutes before she has to go.”

Camila’s face darkened when she remembered. Ally. No, no, no, not Ally. She brought her head up to look at her. She had her arms around Dinah and was quaking in fear. Camila wanted to reach out to her and hug her, hold her one more time before she goes.

Normani came barreling through the crowd that stood near all the conflict. “Ally!” Normani’s voice was frantic and cracked towards the end. She rushed over and grasped Ally’s shoulder. Dinah and Normani exchanged hesitant glances.

Camila stumbled forward, trying her best to make her way over to Ally. She didn’t know how long she had. Minutes, seconds, milliseconds, no one knew how long she had until Ally had to go.

Their gaze met.

Or so, Camila thought their gaze met.

And then on her lips was a smile. A large genuine smile on her saddened face.

In that moment Camila remembered what Lauren told her when Tori disappeared. She had a smile on her face too.

_ “It’s time,”  _ Ally thought.

“Ally, no!” She reached her hand out to try and grab her friend.

It was too late. They broke their promise. They couldn’t save Ally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of short compared to the others but I suck at writing combat scenes, so for sure on Friday y'all will find out what happened to Ally. :))


	13. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALLY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise, surprise! this chapter is in ally's point of view :)

Town Plaza - 01 Minute

Ally thought the worst birthday that she ever would have was in seventh grade when she had a big birthday party and invited all of her friends, but the only people that showed up were Dinah and Camila because the other guests wanted to go to the football game.

Ally didn’t expect her worst birthday to be her eighteenth birthday in an apocalyptic scenario where all of the adults disappeared and the kids who turned eighteen disappeared too. She didn’t expect her worst birthday to be the day when coyotes ravaged and hurt little kids. She didn’t expect her worst birthday to be the day her church was brought to the ground by a Coates Academy kid with telekinesis.

Her last few minutes felt like they were in slow motion. She watched Camila be suspended in the air. She watched Lauren taunt Louis angrily. She let Dinah hold her tightly. She almost cried when Normani came barreling from the crowds of kids to see her. She watched the devil’s incarnate Zayn take on a weirdly mutated Liam. She even watched as coyotes killed little innocent kids. Ally was sure this was a dream or her reliving a crazy climatic movie.

Everytime she pinched herself she was proven wrong during tense situations.

Suddenly Ally found herself seeing things in slow motion. And for some twisted reason, her lips curved into a smile. A part of her had already accepted her fate.

_ “It’s time,”  _ she thought.

“Ally n-” Camila started to shout but she was cut off and muted. Camila was frozen, holding her hand out with her mouth wide open. Ally looked to her left. Dinah’s bright and blonde, yet beautiful hair faded into colorless curls. She also found Lauren’s vibrant green eyes were now dull and lifeless.

Everyone around her stopped moving. They were quite literally frozen in time.

A figure materialized in front of her. She gasped in shock, shaking her head in disbelief. “Dad?” she asked in disbelief. Jerry Hernandez stood in front of her with his arms outstretched.

“Happy Birthday, honey,” her dad said. “Look at my little girl all grown up.”

Ally opened her mouth to say something, but nothing could come out. He stretched his hand out, beckoning her to come over to him. “Come Ally, it’s time to go.”  
Ally considered it for a second. Her dad was right here in front of her, offering to take her away from the FAYZ. It’s what she’s wished for from the beginning and secretly what she’d been hoping and praying for when she turned eighteen and had to poof. She was finally getting what she wanted.

Or was she? Suddenly she was thinking about the time in the firehouse over a week ago when Normani made all of them dinner. The way they all talked and laughed with each other was unforgettable. And for the first time in her life, she felt free and welcomed. Dinah and Camila were always great friends to her, But the addition of Normani and Lauren strengthened their bond, they gave Ally a purpose.

Ally grimaced. “I can’t.”

“Ally, listen to me, it’s your father. I love you. I can take you back to Mom and your brother.”

She found the offer tempting but she couldn’t. “Dad I’m sorry, but I can’t. I need to stay.”

“Don’t you worry Ally, I will get you out of here, just reach out to me and it’ll all be over,” he said, getting slightly agitated.

She bit down on her lip. “Dad, please.”

He jerked his hand forward angrily, looking at her like she did something wrong. She was disobeying her father. Ally wanted to cower at the sight. She never liked it when she upset her parents, especially her dad because she adored her father to death.

“I won’t ask again, Allyson,” he warned her.

Ally felt insecure and lost. She almost gave in, reaching her hand out towards his but she changed her mind last minute. She retract her hand back to her side. “You know Dad, technically I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions now. And maybe I don’t need you now.”

Jerry’s eyes flashed green before they returned to their normal color. “Don’t you remember your ten commandments?” She tilted her head in confusion, but nodded her head. “Thou shalt have no gods other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor thy father and thy mother. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, wife, servants, animals, or anything else,” he listed.

She frowned suddenly. “Dad, what does this have to do with anything?” she asked with uncertainty.

“Ally, dear, you’re breaking the fifth one. You’re not honoring your father by refusing to come with me,” he reasoned.

Ally couldn’t believe the words coming out of his father’s mouth. The more she conversed with him now, the more she began to wonder if this was really her father. She remembered her father as a kind and caring man. He was the one who took very good care of her. He made sure that Ally was always comfortable and happy. He put Ally first over himself.

If he was truly her father, he would have let her go free.

Ally inhaled sharply, narrowing her eyes at her father. “Even the Devil can quote scripture to suit his purposes.” She blushed, realizing how mean that sounded. She would never say that to anyone, let alone her own father,

Her father hissed like a snake and the familiar green glow appeared back in his eyes, but just like the last time, it disappeared suddenly.

“Come with me now, Allyson.” He looked beyond angry at her.

“I have things to finish here,” Ally protested. “My friends need me more than you need me. Dinah, Camila, Lauren, and Normani -- they’re all like my family now. I can’t leave them alone to deal with things by themselves.” A hint of a smile returned to her face. “God wouldn’t want me to do that.”

Suddenly his face began to waver. Parts of his face started to break off and his tender flesh began to melt. His mouth collapsed inwards and sharp teeth took its place. Ally gasped in horror as her gaze met one of a grotesque monster.

“Wha-” Ally inhaled sharply. “Who are you? What are you?”

“I’ll have you yet,” the monster raged in a deep dark voice.

Her jaw clenched. She balled up her fists. Terror was evident in her features but there was no way of running. All of her movements were slow and sluggish. She tried to take a step back but she felt like she was stepping through Jello. 

“Answer my question,” she stammered, forcing herself to continue to look at the terrifying monster.

The monster laughed deeply. “What am I? The healer Ashley knows me well and so does the whip monster Zayn.”

Ally tensed. She remembered Ashley talk about the mines. She remembered her terrified look when the coyotes came to the shack. She remembered how Ashley refused to say anything about the matter. Ally knew why now.

She bit down on her lip hard. “You’re the Darkness.” The monster flashed his great big teeth and grinned at Ally, causing her to flinch. “Why are you doing this?”

“I’m your future. You will come to me willingly. You  _ all  _ will. The dark place will be your savior.”

And before she could ask any more questions and protest, the monster laughed cruelly and began to fade. The color slowly began to return to the world around her. Zayn and Liam continued their battle at full speed. Camila, who stood right in front of her, lowered her hand.

Camila gasped.

Lauren gawked.

Dinah let out a cry.

Normani stared at her.

Ally grinned.

She turned to look at the people watching nearby. Louis looked enraged. Perrie had an amused smirk. Ashley, wait when did Ashley get here? No matter, she was laughing wildly. The computer nerd known as Troye just looked perplexed. Ariana, Lucy, Vero, all stood to the side with their hands up, ready for battle. Jade and Shawn exchanged surprised glances.

“Well,” Ally drawled. “That was very anti-climactic, wasn’t it?”

Louis cursed loudly, quickly aiming his hands at Ally. But Ariana was quicker.

In a quick blur, the girl ran up and kicked him harshly in the crotch. He screamed loudly like a little girl and fell over, covering his crotch to cope with the pain.

“Don’t mess with the Breeze, bitch!” Ariana made a rude gesture that Ally would never dream of using.

Lauren gave Ariana a fistbump and took a step towards Louis. She towered over him with a wide smirk. “Get out. Battle’s over.”

“Never,” Louis spat. Lauren kicked him harshly in the shin. He let out another pitiful cry. Ally almost felt bad, key word: almost.

“You’re making a mistake Jauregui, you should kill me while I’m down.”

Lauren shook her head. “Too many lives were lost for me to add you to the body count.” She winced, accidentally hitting her limp arm. “Stay away from us.”

Louis stood back up. “We’ll see about that.” He turned to Perrie and Troye. “Come on, let’s get Zayn and get out of here.”

Troye didn’t budge. He just frowned and shook his head.

“Perrie can stay here,” Jade offered, surprising everyone, even Perrie herself who looked like she just won the lottery.

Perrie smiled sweetly, taking a step towards the girl. “Oh Jadey. So intelligent. So clueless.” Jade’s cheeks flushed furiously. Ally bit her lip in complete confusion. She never assumed Jade was even remotely interested in Perrie.  “Sorry, babe. The bad girl ends up with the bad boy. It’s the way the world works. Especially this world.”

Perrie walked away from her, but didn’t even bother helping Louis up, just sent him an angry glare. Louis got up on his feet and ran after her like a lost puppy.

Dinah narrowed her eyes, scratching her head in confusion. “Anyone else crazy as hell confused about what just happened between blonde vixen and Jade?”

As if by habit, Ally sent Dinah an angry glare. “Language, Dinah Jane!”

Dinah snorted. “Just because you’re an adult now doesn’t mean you can boss me around.” Both of their eyes met and widened in synchronization. Both of them realized the exact same thing at the exact same time.

“Smallz, you survived the poof!” Dinah cheered excitedly, wrapping her arms around Ally’s small frame and spinning her around. Ally allowed herself to burst out into giggles.

Normani placed a hand on Dinah’s shoulder, stopping her from spinning. “Babe, I want some Ally loving time.”

Ally blushed while being set down by Dinah, but before she could say anything in response. Camila squealed excitedly.

“Babe! Lo, she called her babe!” She wrapped her arms around her girlfriend but accidentally bumped into Lauren’s arm, causing her to yelp in pain. Camila jumped back and started quickly blurting out apologies.

Ally looked up to see Normani roll her eyes and she wrapped her arms around her friend. She relaxed in her hold and rested her head on Normani’s chest. Although, she couldn’t explain why her tummy felt funny when Normani held her. She supposed it was just post-anxiety nerves.

“Did someone call Doctor Ashley?” The blue haired girl approached the five of them. She looked surprisingly pale, almost as if she had seen a ghost. Ally thought she looked worse than she did when they last saw her. Of course, Ally was never one to pressure her to answer questions. She also admitted to be a little afraid of her anyways.

“Yeah, Lauren’s arm,” Dinah started to say.

“Sofi!” Camila interrupted, rushing over to her little sister who still was unconscious on the ground. She gasped, continuing to shake her little sister lightly. “She won’t wake up, Ashley, you have to save her.”

Ashley was quick to move over to Sofi. Ally just remembered she was still hugging Normani and quickly flushed, pulling away from her in embarrassment.

Ally watched the crowd disperse as people began to attend to the wounded and get a damage report. Lauren wobbled over to Ashley and Camila as quickly as she could. Dinah and Normani didn’t leave her side. She smiled at them gratefully.

“So, how do you survive the poof?” Normani asked, getting straight to the point.

Ally smiled grimly. “It isn’t easy. In fact it’s really terrifying. I saw my dad and he asked me to come to him and he said he could get me out of here.”

Dinah snickered. “So does that mean that we’re all gonna see Jerry Hernandez when we turn eighteen? That’s hilarious!”

Normani glared at Dinah and then gestured for Ally to continue. “No, it wasn’t actually my dad. It was a monster that took on his form. I kept refusing to go with my dad so he got mad and turned into a monster.” Ally winced, remembering the terrifying smile that would haunt her for days. “He mentioned Ashley and Zayn.”

“The monster could be the same thing that Ashley saw in the mine. It would explain why she was so shaken up,” Normani said.

“He said he’s going to get all of us eventually. We’ll all succumb to him eventually.”

“Then we need to be ready,” Dinah said, crossing her arms.

Ally frowned, shaking her head in disbelief. “We just ended an intense battle. We sent the bad guys away. We know how to survive the poof. All we have to worry about is counting casualties and cleaning up the mess we made. Can’t we save the supernatural superstitions for later?”

“I have a bad feeling this is only the beginning of something terrible, Ally. It goes beyond just petty fights with boarding school kids. We may be taking on something worse.”

Ally turned her head to look over at Camila, Lauren, and Ashley. Camila was cradling Sofi in her arms while kissing Lauren softly. Ashley held onto Lauren’s injured arm with a solemn expression on her features as Ally noticed her gaze was anywhere but on the couple kissing in front of her. 

Ally could totally relate to Ashley in that moment. She hated when her friends kissed right in front of her, reminding her how single she was. The thought of Dinah and Normani kissing made her sick to her stomach. Maybe the blue haired girl and her and something in common.

She turned her head back to her two friends. “Lord, save us if it comes down to that,” was all she could say as she grabbed Dinah’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze.

Even though they won and were freed from a tyrant’s wrath, Ally still felt scared and upset by the events that took place. Yeah, this was definitely the worst birthday ever. She vowed to make her friends feel much better on their birthdays, especially their eighteenth birthday. 

That is, if they’d survive for that long. Anything was possible in the FAYZ.

But one thing Ally knew for sure about the FAYZ, no one will know what they’ve got until it’s gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again thank you guys like sososo much for your support. and yes, i will be doing the other books slowly but surely. stay tuned for the epilogue and i'll give you guys details about the next book and when you should expect it to come around.


	14. FINALE

Town Plaza - Thanksgiving Day

At Coates Academy, Thanksgiving dinner usually consisted of a small helping of turkey, mashed potatoes, a roll, and some green beans. So for everyone that previously came from Coates Academy, this was a dream Thanksgiving dinner. But the true dream Thanksgiving was the one where they could have Thanksgiving with their actual families.

The tables were set up at the north end of the Plaza. Justin had trouble moving things around because he heard from two different people that they wanted different locations. He just listened to Ariana in the end and moved the tables so they were near the graves. The fallen were to be included in Thanksgiving. They were just as important to everyone even though they couldn’t make it.

Troye managed to hook up a stereo system. With Shawn, they went around and made kids put one song on a playlist. Perhaps that wasn’t the computer nerd’s smartest idea because “That’s What I Like” currently blasted through the speakers the third time that meal.

The kids of Perdido beach sat in the few chairs, or they sat on the grass while eating off of plastic plates with plastic utensils.

There was laughter. There were smiles. There were sniffles. There were tears, as people remembered past Thanksgiving dinners.

With the return of Ashley at the end of the battle, cleanup became much easier. Although healing for her was exhausting as she worked around the clock to get to everyone fixed. Jesy aided her, prioritizing the worst cases and giving Tylenol to the kids with minor injuries. Luke Hemmings was a great help too. After Ashley healed him in the church, he became Jesy’s faithful and loyal nurse.

Bea brought the preschoolers out to the feast. She spoonfed some of them and changed their diapers on the grass while her brother helped her out willingly. The events of the daycare affected the toddlers immensely. Some sat alone away from their little friends and just stared.

No one seemed to pay attention to Liam and Niall who ate in the corner by themselves. Liam and Zayn’s fight was a draw. But no one -- Liam and Dinah least of all -- had forgotten Madison.

The most chatter came from a group of six teenage girls who sat in a circle in the plaza. Dinah had whipped cream smeared all over her face and begged the girl next to her, Normani, to lick it off. Ally watched the pair with disgust and awe as she played with the mashed potatoes that were still left untouched on her plate. Ashley, exhausted from all of her healing, had her head on Lauren’s lap. Lauren’s girlfriend Camila didn’t seem too pleased by that. She kept shooting side-eyed glances as she urged her little sister to eat.

Lauren yawned. “This might sound crazy guys, but I think we should bring the leftovers up to Coates.”

“Fuck no,” Ashley spat, glaring up at her.

“Language,” Ally mumbled.

Lauren looked at Normani expectantly. “You have a big heart, Laur, but I’m not the one who’s going to do it.”

Camila rolled her eyes at her friends’ antics. “I think it’s a great idea, babe. A peace offering to tie everything up, hm?” Lauren smiled widely and leaned over to press her lips to Camila’s in a quick chaste kiss. Ashley made a gagging noise from below them and sat back up.

“Hey Dinah,” Ashley called out to the Tongan that still had whipped cream on her face. “Wanna give me some loving? So-called Camren is being disgusting.”

Dinah glanced over at Lauren and Camila as Camila cuddled into Lauren’s side. Lauren began to run her hand up and down Camila’s arm. “Nah, they cute as heck. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ashley huffed and rolled her eyes. “Besides my loving is reserved for Normani.”

Normani snorted. “You’re a big idiot, you know that?”

“A big idiot that you like.” Dinah wiggled her eyebrows. Normani leaned in and kissed her, and then pulling away quickly to wipe off the whipped cream off her lips.

“I guess you really are what you eat,” Lauren mused out loud with a wide smirk. “Normani’s  _ whipped _ .” Camila giggled at Lauren’s joke. Normani flipped her best friend off.

“That was a good one, babe.”

“I knew you’d like that one.”

Ashley crossed her arms over her chest. “The feeling when you’re fifth-wheeling like a pro.” Ally made a loud ‘hmph.’ Ashley laughed, looking over at Ally. “Oh sorry Allz, we can be single and bitter together.”

“Who needs girlfriends when you have the Lord?” Ally asked. They all burst out laughing. Several heads turned to look at the group. But none paid any attention to them, today was about themselves and no one else. They deserved a break. They’d deal with the town issues tomorrow, when Lauren would officially accept her job as mayor.

“I think people are expecting you to speak, Lo,” Camila said to Lauren.

Lauren’s lips protruded into a pout. She leaned in to whisper in her girlfriend’s ear, “I had another idea that involved me, you, and the beach.”

“What would we be doing on the beach?”

Lauren smirked. “Some kissing, maybe something else…”

Camila’s cheeks heated up. “And what would that something else be?” Out of the view of their friends, Lauren nipped her earlobe lightly causing Camila to shudder at the contact.

“Swimming,” Lauren said gleefully. Camila shoved her gently.

“You ass,” Camila scoffed. “You made me think you wanted something else.”

Suddenly a turkey bone hit Lauren on the head. She whipped her head to glare at the culprit. “Hey, knock it off lesbos! We’re trying to eat here,” Dinah shouted, shaking her finger at them.

Ashley fake-coughed. “Yeah, eat each other’s faces off,” she grumbled. Dinah threw another turkey bone at the blue haired girl.

Ally rolled her eyes. “I swear every day I feel like I’m dealing with an actual child.” That caused the tall blonde to try and reach for another turkey bone, but Normani stopped her from doing so. She turned her head tentatively to look at the group of kids nearby. They all were looking at them, waiting patiently for something. “They’re waiting for a speech.”

Lauren nodded. “I know. But I’m too much of a wuss to go up there. What if I give a sucky speech?”

Camila scowled. “Lauren you literally have persuasion abilities. I wouldn’t be too worried about your speech sucking. Besides, if you go up there and give a speech, I’ll agree to your  _ special  _ plan.”

Lauren’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Ashley burst out laughing. “Damn Camila, bribing Lauren with sex? You are so dirty.”

Camila shook her head violently and buried her head into Lauren’s shoulder. Dinah and Normani joined in on the laughter while Ally held a hand over her mouth to hide her giggles. “No, that’s not what I meant!”

“They were just teasing you Camz, chill out.” Lauren got up on her feet. “Hey Ally, want to join me? I’m sure people will want to hear a statement from the oldest person in the FAYZ.” Ally nodded her head and stood up as well.

The pair made their way towards the fountain in the middle of the plaza. Lauren held her hand out and helped Ally up onto the edge of the fountain. She climbed up after the short girl and waved her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Hey, everyone!” Lauren called, managing to get the attention of most people in the plaza. The little ones’ laughter died down a little bit.

“First of all we want to thank Justin and his helpers for putting togethers this very wonderful meal,” Ally started with a grin.

“Give it up for the true Mac Daddy!” Lauren hollered. The kids broke out into applause.

Justin bowed slowly but then looked up and shook his finger at her. “Don’t call me Mac Daddy again!”

“And also thank you so much to Ashley and Jesy. Because without you guys, a lot of us wouldn’t be here now,” Ally continued. The crowd began to roar. Jesy managed to crack a smile while Ashley just hid her face behind Normani’s head.

“Our first Thanksgiving in the FAYZ,” Lauren said when the applause died down. “And hopefully our last.”

“But we’re here now. We’re here in this place we’ve never wanted to be in. And we’re scared. And I think I can speak for Lauren here when I say that it won’t be easy. Who knows what will happen when we run out of food? Who knows what will happen if we suddenly lose power? Who knows how another person will die if they do?” Ally’s words were clear and concise and she was speaking from a newfound confidence. “But I think it’s important to thank God, if you believe in Him, that we’re still here today. We are so grateful to be here today.”

“To you guys, Lauren and Ally,” Harry shouted from the back.

“No, don’t thank us. We give thanks to the nineteen kids who are buried right here.” Lauren pointed to the six rows of three tombstones, plus another one that started the seventh row. Too many names for the girls to list without breaking into tears. “And we also thank the heroes who are here with us eating turkey, too embarrassed to admit that they are actually heroes. Normani, Dinah, Camila, Harry, Vero, Lucy, and Ariana to name a few.”

A loud wave of sustained applause as many faces turned to face the people mentioned. Lauren smirked as she saw her friends flush in embarrassment while Ally smiled joyfully.

“We all hope this will end. We all hope that we’ll see our parents and loved ones again. But right now, we’re stuck in the FAYZ. And what we’re going to do is look out for each other, help each other, and work together.” Murmurs of agreement filled the audience. “Many of us are from Perdido Beach. Some of us, like me, are from Coates Academy. Some of us are a little strange,” Lauren trailed off tentatively, scratching the back of her neck. “And some of us are not. But we’re all here going through the exact same thing.  We’re going to survive this. Because if this is our new reality, we’re going to make the most of it.”

Ally looked up at Lauren, beaming. “As Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘a house divided against itself cannot stand.’ There’s no room for petty arguments and disagreements. We’re going to work through everything together.”

Everyone burst into applause after that. Some of the kids stood up. Some of them whistled loudly. Some of them even began to chant Lauren and Ally’s names. Ally reached over and grabbed Lauren’s hand. They swung their joint hands up up and held them high. Suddenly they heard the sound of water rushing. Before they could even react, a wave of water from the fountain came crashing into Ally and Lauren soaking them instantly.

Dina, who stood several feet away, lowered her hands. “Lauser and Smallz just got soaked! Man, I got you guys good.”

“Dinah Jane!” Ally shrieked, jumping down from the fountain and charging towards her. Dinah broke out into a run. It was almost too hilarious to watch, a five foot tall girl chase a girl who was practically a giant. Lauren, drenched and amused, came up behind Camila and hugged her.

Camila shuddered as she felt Lauren’s soaking wit hair hit her. “Lo,” she whined.

“Let’s go to the beach Camz, then I can get you just as wet as I am now,” she said suggestively.

“You suck!”

“Just watch, three months later and you’ll still be head over heels for me.”

Camila grabbed her hand and dragged Lauren in the direction of the beach. “I hate that you’re probably right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my dudes...it's over. i am so proud of my child. literally thank you so much for your support on this fic, it means a lot.
> 
> anywayssss the sequel that covers the next book will debut in january because i need a little break from writing all of that (and i need to practice writing in different character's points of view) so stay tuned for same damn hunger which takes place 3 months after the events of this book with accounts from lauren, camila, normani, dinah, ally, and ashley. :)


End file.
